No Bag Limit

Liberty Springs, Wyoming 1

No Bag Limit Emma Duncan is independent, reserved, and prickly as hell, a spitfire with enough secrets to keep her living behind fortified walls. Ty Whelan is convinced Emma is the wild, willing, and strong woman he and his brothers have waited half their lifetime for. But the romance author’s past has chased her to the town of Liberty Springs, Wyoming. Psychological scars hold her back from embracing the carnal bliss and emotional security the Whelans offer, while a twisted madman threatens her very existence. Emma strives to overcome the grip of a man who has terrorized her for half a decade and admit that she has room in her heart for Zach and Colby as well as Ty. With hard bodies and big hearts, they entice her to accept all they have to offer and revel in the affections of three very different men... Because, girls, there’s "no bag limit" in Liberty Springs. Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys Length: 80,894 words

NO BAG LIMIT Liberty Springs, Wyoming 1

Kaliana Cole

MENAGE AMOUR

Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com

ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer. WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at [email protected]

A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK IMPRINT: Ménage Amour

NO BAG LIMIT Copyright © 2011 by Kaliana Cole E-book ISBN: 1-61034-775-7 First E-book Publication: September 2011 Cover design by Jinger Heaston All cover art and logo copyright © 2011 by Siren Publishing, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers Dear Readers, If you have purchased this copy of No Bag Limit by Kaliana Cole from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book. The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment. This is Kaliana Cole’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Cole’s right to earn a living from her work. Amanda Hilton, Publisher www.SirenPublishing.com www.BookStrand.com

DEDICATION This one is for all the readers who embraced Good Horses, Fast Cars and Real Men. Thank you for giving a new author a go. Your words of appreciation mean more to me than I can say. And for KJ, you’re still the best friend anyone could have. And B, ignorance is bliss. I love you.

NO BAG LIMIT Liberty Springs, Wyoming 1 KALIANA COLE Copyright © 2011

Prologue “I’ve come to realise that the men in this world can be sorted into the same categories as the horses I grew up with. Some you’d keep in you stable—or your little black book—others you wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. The first question is, is it a horse or a cull? CULLS—A cull is a specimen so poor in temperament, attitude, and/or conformation that it is of no use whatsoever. With men, this category usually includes child molesters, mass murderers, and used car salesmen as well as other assorted assholes and oxygen thieves. Beware! While experience helps in the identification of borderline culls, they have been known to camouflage their true status and slip through the first line of a woman’s defense. SCHOOLMASTERS—Those priceless gems of the horse world, they have been there, done everything, and been good at it. This horse knows to gauge its performance to its rider’s experience, neither frightening the novice nor boring the accomplished rider.

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These mounts might be a little long in the tooth to keep for the long haul, but sure are a true pleasure to throw a leg over every now and again. Securing one of these stalwarts requires sifting through assorted dirty old men, lechers, and forgetfully married morons. These lovelies can spot a likely jockey at fifty paces. They pick up the slightest hint of an interested body. A knowing gleam in their eye, a lazy curl of a smile. When your eyes ask, “How good are ya?” their eloquent wink says there is only one way to find out. Toby Keith summed it up pretty well. “I ain’t as good as I once was, but I’m as good once as I ever was.” I may be slightly twisted, but that’s one fantasy ride I would love to throw a leg over. I’ve always had a soft spot for the older ones. When the rest of the girls were lusting after Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, I had my sights on Tico Torres. That’s the drummer for you philistines out there. Ten years older than the others, but what a wicked gleam in those black Cuban eyes! Every horse woman should have a school master in her stable. PUBLIC HACK OR RIDING SCHOOL NAG—Too many of us learned to ride on these easily acquired mounts. Lazy, undisciplined, and full of vices. They have had more riders than a government bus. If you find yourself burdened with one of these mounts, to get a halfdecent ride you will need firm hands and a big stick. Take control, get what you want, and then walk away quickly before they work out a way to get even. SHOW PONY—This specimen looks absolutely fabulous on your arm. Such presence, such poise, so totally useless to ride… THE PERFORMANCE HORSE—This mount is just too much for the average rider. Highly specialized in its scope, a rider can find herself overwhelmed by her lack of knowledge in this mount’s area of

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expertise. While it may be fun to have a ride on a grand prix dressage mount, sit a cutter through a spin, or experience the thrill of a thoroughbred on the track, once is usually enough. Think bondage, kink, anal, whatever is outside of your comfort zone. That said, enjoy, you only live once. PROBLEM HORSE—This one is trouble. You know it, but you just can’t resist the challenge. Has had a score of previous owners, a history as long as your arm. While there is a miniscule chance that this could become your keeper, just remember there is a reason so many have gotten rid of this bad boy. Sometimes it may be difficult to distinguish between those born to be bad and the harmless rebels without a clue. Keep your heart under lock and key and hang on for a wild ride. THE WORKHORSE—Big, strong, and dependable, they’re there for the long haul. A bit monotonous at times, but with a bucket of oats or a set of sharp spurs can turn out a performance to rival the best now and then. With men, replace “oats” with “alcohol” and “spurs” with “toys.” Well, actually, the spurs could be interesting. Just a word of warning, even the best keeper will revert to workhorse status in response to a gold band on the finger. KEEPER—You know the moment you mount up this horse was made for you. It looks good and feels even better. Has enough strength and stamina to ride to hell and back and still look for more. Throw your rope over this one, girls, and keep the stall locked. To prevent this one from straying, keep him well fed and well ridden. A few vibrating surprises in the cupboard will help to keep this specimen from devolving into a workhorse. THE FANTASY RIDE—If you have ever been privileged to have the unadulterated pleasure of seeing a herd of wild horses in the flesh,

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you will understand exactly what I mean. Seen your ultimate male singer in concert? You’ll know, too. Imagine a big old wild stallion, coal black, gloriously untamed mane and tail, scars of battle marring his glossy hide. You know he fought his way to the top, all that power, all that righteous pride, dominant, alpha, all male. You’re just itching to throw a loop over it, well, okay, a leg anyway. But some things are better to dream about than the reality, or just so far out of reach it ain’t funny. Crash and burn, babe, crash and burn. So when your keeper slips into workhorse mode, close your eyes and dream of that big old stallion, lay back, and enjoy the ride. Mmm…Toby…”

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Chapter 1 “Jesus Christ, girl, how much did you drink last night?” Beth tossed the foolscap sheets onto a growing pile on Emma’s desk. A forlorn half inch of expensive scotch supplied her answer. The prone figure on the bed obviously had no intentions of doing so. The bottle had been more than half full yesterday. She picked it up with a sigh. At least it wasn’t tequila. It had taken weeks to find where Em had lost her panties after that episode. How they got inside the light fitting on the balcony was anybody’s guess. The electrician had been a touch embarrassed to find a lace G-string was the cause of the lighting fault. “Rise and shine, girl, it’s after eight. You’ve got the farrier coming at nine, clients at two, and that load of hay will be here around five. Get your ass in that shower or I’ll let Ty in here to wake you up.” The older woman sniffed her disdain. “Such a fine sight you look at the moment, too.” That got a response. Beth chuckled as Em dragged herself out of the tennis court-sized bed and in the direction of the bathroom. She knew just what buttons to push to get her young employer out from under the covers. Ty Whelan was a fine specimen of a man and an even better farrier. Letting him lay eyes on her in this sorry state was not something Em would countenance. Beth went about tidying the room. When Em had writer’s block, she never quite knew what she was going to find. She chuckled as she returned a Toby Keith CD to its cover; some things never changed.

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Beth had cleaned up loose paper for over a month now. When little ideas niggled, Em just scratched them down with little thought to content or propriety. Actually, with little thought to anything. While she wrote historical romance under a well-protected pseudonym, there was no telling what her “unblocking” pages would reveal. Beth had read everything from grisly murder scenes to bizarre bondage. The discourse on men and horses last night’s scotch indulgence had produced was tame in comparison, but it did make a person wonder just what the hell was going through that little blonde head at times. She was glad Emma only resorted to liquor once in a while. All of her stranger efforts were helped by a bottle. Beth would worry when a heroine turned up in one of Em’s books who was middle-aged, graying, and stout. She was used to being written in as an agony-aunt character, but Em had thankfully kept her drawers in place so far. For a woman who had a nonexistent sex life, Emma could sure scorch the ink off the pages. **** Beth had coffee and breakfast on the table when Emma returned from the shower feeling nearly ready to face the day. She headed straight for the coffee. “Thanks, Beth.” She took a grateful sip, breathing in the rich aroma. “What time did you say Ty was coming?” “Nine, so you have twenty minutes to get yourself together and catch some horses for him.” “Shit.” Emma downed the coffee and managed to swallow one piece of French toast. After scrubbing her teeth for the second time, Em felt marginally better by the time she opened the door, but still reached for her darkest pair of shades as well as her jacket when she headed out.

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She wished she had remembered last night that Ty was coming. Her wits suffered when that man was about at the best of times. To be hungover and have to deal with him was a recipe for disaster. He was big, strong, and gorgeous, quintessentially male. He stroked her libido like no other. A walking wet dream. The problem wasn’t Ty, it was his brothers. When she had first moved to Liberty Springs three years ago, Emma had been mildly shocked by the relationships that thrived there. Hell, she had been more than shocked. It had taken months for her to pick her jaw up off the ground. Beth had two husbands, Lacey at the coffee shop had three, and a lot of the women around abouts wore collars. Plus, there was always a lot of comings and goings at the Kinky Kat. Emma had given the club a wide berth since she had been told to go there and find out what “floats her boat.” People from all walks of life had come to call this little slice of tolerant mountain utopia home. No one was the least bit judgmental. As long as the “safe, sane, and consensual” mantra was adhered to, well, anything went. If Ty had come as a one-pack, even as a hardcore Dom that this town sprouted like mildew in spring, Em would have snapped him up in a heartbeat. But there were two problems. Cocky, charismatic, sexon-legs problems. Colby and Zach Whelan had a smokin’ reputation as good-time boys. They were always the first to pick over the single women who migrated in droves to the sleepy little rural town each summer. Rumors abounded that they weren’t putting a ring on one until big brother Ty found one who was worthy of all their charms. With Ty as a farrier, and the others owning and running the local rural supplies and feed store, Em had had a lot more to do with them than her questionable sanity should have allowed. The fact that Ty worked his charm on her every chance he got was a little concerning.

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While the other two certainly got her juices flowing, she wasn’t a good-time girl. The old “once bitten, twice shy” adage stuck like glue to her. When the cloud of dust heralded the farrier’s arrival, Em had caught three horses but Tammy had no intention of being caught. The recalcitrant mare stretched her neck out like a giraffe to nibble at the handful of sweet feed Em offered but would not allow her close enough to clip the lead on. Emma’s tolerance had regressed to the point of throwing clods of dirt and hollering like a banshee with Tourette’s when the big, black Dodge pulled up. **** Ty looked over the scene with a smile growing on his rugged face. Emma was at the furthest point of the small paddock, having failed to corner the mare once more. He grinned when she started pelting dirt after the elusive animal, her temper right up, her face flushed magnificently with the rage riding her, and her aim totally fucking useless. So much fire, so much passion. Such a lousy arm. Emma Duncan was sexy as hell when she was mad. He stepped out of the pickup with a grin on his face. He always loved coming out to Emma’s Riding for the Disabled Centre, but today promised to be even better than usual. He ducked through the fence. The Welsh mountain pony crosstrotted straight up to him. He got a firm grip on Tammy’s headstall and waited for Emma to get there with the lead. He soothed the pony while he waited for the curvy little woman with steam coming out of her ears to reach him. **** Emma shook her head in disgust. The hussy had run straight up to him. If that mare wasn’t so good with the younger clients, she would

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have sold her for dog food months ago. Watching those big hands play so gently over the little bitch before she had felt their touch made Em question her restraint. If there was a way to piss Emma off, Tammy found it, and she had an uncanny sixth sense for knowing when Em was hungover. Any other day she could walk straight up to her in the paddock, but if Em had a few too many the night before, trying to get hold of the slippery little bitch was like trying to catch a greased pig with your bare hands. It was a good thing the rifle was locked securely in the house. It always looked like a handy solution on mornings like this. There were times she would love to see Tammy try and outrun a high velocity bullet. “Good morning, Em. You’re looking as beautiful as ever this fine morning.” The sinfully resonant voice rolled through her womb. The tantalizing drawl crawled along her spine. The mocking undertone failed to dampen her body’s eager response. Her mind, however, was having none of it. “Save it, please, Ty. I can’t handle your shit today.” “Damn. You said ‘please.’ You must be feeling under the weather this morning.” He reached out and raised her glasses briefly before lowering them. “Them are some bloodshot eyes, kiddo. Did you tie one on last night?” “It seemed like a good idea at the time.” “It always does. It’s the next morning that’s the problem.” She clipped the pony up and led her to the hitching rail with a little more force than was necessary. “Still having trouble with the next book, huh?” While only Beth knew what name she published under, word had leaked out that she was a romance writer. “Yeah, it just doesn’t want to happen yet.” She watched as Ty began unloading his equipment.

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“So what’s the problem, the bodice won’t rip or the heroine won’t swoon?” Emma rolled her eyes at his clichéd view of romance writing. “My girls don’t faint, and if there is any ripping to be done, they do it themselves.” “Mmm. Sounds like my type of girl. Tell me who you write as and I’ll check them out.” The hopeful tone wasn’t slipping under her admittedly less-than-perfect guard this morning. “Not in this lifetime, big guy.” He gave her a wicked grin before turning to the task at hand. “What are we doing today?” “New shoes for Fred and Barney. Merlin’s should be fine to go straight back on, and that bitch just needs a trim. I think she is getting close to foundering again.” It didn’t matter how much Em restricted the pony’s feed intake. She always got too fat in spring. “Okay, I’ll do Tammy first. It will give my back a chance to warm up before I tackle the others.” She watched his calm and assured manner with admiration as he handled the uncooperative little mare. Emma would have had her flat on her back with all four feet tied together the first time she kicked out, but Ty just calmly regathered the limb and continued with the job. There was a reason she did not trim this one herself. Merlin took less than fifteen minutes to reshoe because his shoes were not worn enough to warrant changing. He only needed to be trimmed before they were put back on. Emma watched intently as he put new shoes on Fred but had to admit her eyes only left Ty’s lovely ass, covered by worn Wranglers and framed so nicely by his protective chaps, when they were forced to. By the knowing little smile playing around Ty’s lips, he was well aware of her area of interest, despite the dark glasses. Emma would normally have been absolutely mortified to be caught admiring his attributes, but this morning she was feeling way too poorly to give a shit.

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Emma loved when it was time for new shoes for Barney. The Clydesdale’s hooves were miles too big for mass-produced horseshoes, so Ty forged them himself. Watching the big man wield a hammer in the molten glow of the forge was a heady sight, one any red-blooded woman would cream over. Her readers had been ecstatic over the scene that had crept into her last book. A scene where a blacksmith who looked suspiciously like the man firing up the gas before her had replaced a lost shoe on her heroine’s noble mount. She had been inundated with requests to write the blacksmith’s story, but was wary of moving away from the upper-class scene. Readers wanted lords and ladies, not blacksmiths and milkmaids. She was glad of the mirrored shades when Ty stripped off his shirt. Clad in the navy vest beneath, shoulders bulged, biceps flexed, and that magnificent chest danced in the light of the flames. Emma watched, absolutely enthralled as Ty worked the steel. His strong hand wrapped the handles of the tongs easily, his thick wrist bound with corded strength. The other arm rippled with harnessed power as the hammer rose and fell rhythmically. Shaping the steel had forged his body into a vision of male perfection. Massive, strong, vital. A towering fortress of protection that a woman could get lost in. It only seemed a heartbeat later that he patted Barney on the rump as he placed the last well-shod hoof on the ground. Emma shook herself free of the undeniably carnal spell she had fallen under. Now it was time for the bargaining. Ty donated his services to the centre even though Emma could well afford to pay him. It was a nonprofit organization. The amount she received for each hour of riding did not even go close to covering costs. Businesses in town took pride in sponsoring a horse at the RDC. It was kind of fitting that Tammy was sponsored by the Kinky Kat. Emma always felt bad that Ty wouldn’t accept money. His work was backbreaking and potentially dangerous. So it had become a bit

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of a game to see what he would take as payment. She had been clear at the outset that things of an indecent nature were off the cards. It was usually a pony ride for a horse-mad kid that couldn’t afford a pony or looking after his oversized dog if he had to go away. But that was only after he had pushed the bounds of propriety as far as she would let him. Ty packed his gear away and leant against the side of the black pickup, arms crossed as he watched her fidgeting unnecessarily with the animals standing quietly. “You’re not going to talk me out of it this time, Em. I definitely will accept no less than a kiss.” Ty didn’t look like he was joking this time. Definite heat shone in his gray eyes, and the set of his wide jaw was downright mulish. “I think I should have one every time I see you, Em. I’ll make it fair, every second time I’ll kiss you, but this first one? It’s your turn, and I want it now.” He spread his hands to the side, as if to say, “come and get it.” Emma opened and closed her mouth, trying to find a retort, but nothing came out. “That’s just about it, darlin, but it works better if those lovely lips of yours are touching mine.” His smile grew, the magnetism the Whelans had in spades coming to the fore. “Just one little kiss, Em. Surely you have the self-control for that.” Emma dragged her feet as she approached him. She was lucky to see him twice a month. Surely she could handle that, but she could just imagine him staking his claim in the middle of the main street. “You promise you won’t embarrass me in town?” “You have my word that I will not kiss you in town without your permission.” He just looked so damn happy with himself. “Come on, Em, just one little kiss, right here.” He laid one big finger on his slightly fuller bottom lip. Emma suppressed a groan. The man was too damn irresistible for his own good. She stood between his dusty boots that were planted

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wide and raised her chin stubbornly. While he had his head tilted looking down at her, he was too tall to reach without putting her hands on him. Gray eyes sparkled with pure mischief. “You’re not going to make this easy for me, are you?” Clearly glorying in her discomfort, his grin said that hope was laudable but futile. “Hell no. I’ve waited too long and worked too hard to make it easy, darlin’.” Emma laid one hand on the swell of his chest for balance and reached up, snaking her other hand to the back of his neck to tug him down. He was definitely not making this easy. She had the intention of laying the merest peck on him and stepping back out of temptation’s way. Such good, innocent intentions. But the path to Lucifer’s pad is paved with those. His masculine scent wrapped around her, the tang of fresh sweat and a musk that was untainted man. Primal, hot, and all male. The heat of his skin branded her, radiating through the cotton covering his chest. His silky hair tickled the back of her knuckles where they splayed on the thickness of his nape. Hot, corded muscle scorched her palm. And his lips, oh God, his lips were like a brush of warm satin. She could taste the faint cinnamon from the gum he chewed, intoxicating, addictive. Just so fucking right. She kissed him once, lightly, but it wasn’t enough. She doubted she could ever get enough of this man. She plucked at the lower fullness before turning her attention to the curve of his top lip. Unable to resist, she licked the bow. Her body fell against his as he opened his mouth, admitting her seeking tongue. The cinnamon was stronger, but it did not override the taste that was purely Ty, decadent and thrilling. Her tongue stroked against the rough velvet of his, inviting, enticing, but he remained passive. She nipped him. A stinging caress

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against the fullness of his lower lip that demanded a response. Still he did not participate. She pulled away when she felt him smile triumphantly beneath her onslaught. “You bastard!” He hadn’t even lifted his hands from where they rested against the vehicle. “Lord, Em. That was some kiss. I ask for a peck and you all but crawl in my mouth.” He ran his tongue over those sinful lips. “I can’t wait for my turn.” “It will be a month before I need you back here, so it’s gonna be a long wait, cowboy.” She assured him, chagrined over her lack of control. “Zach didn’t tell you I was coming out to help with the hay this afternoon?” The cocky tilt to his head said he knew damn well Zach hadn’t told her squat. If she could have found the strength, Em would have belted him one in the jaw. All that smug, alpha, conceited, Whelan confidence was coming through loud and clear in those sparkling gray eyes. She thought about what he said. He had only promised not to embarrass her in town. He wouldn’t, would he? Not in front of those two miscreants. “Yeah, I would.” He answered her unspoken question, a shiteating grin splitting his gorgeous face. He ran his tongue over those lips again, as if gathering her taste. “You have given me a hard act to follow, but I should be able to come up with something to impress the boys.” He gave her a wink before sliding behind the wheel. “See you later, darlin’.” She hoped he could lip-read as she called him every name in the book, the Tourette’s banshee on the loose once more. He probably could if the laughing face she saw in the mirror was any indication.

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Emma stomped her foot with enough temper to rival any selfrespecting two-year-old. One thought was coming through loud and clear. All Whelans should be lined up and shot as a danger to the female population. What had she gotten herself in for? Emma groaned. What was she going to do? Coffee, the answer was more coffee.

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Chapter 2 Ty drove away with laughter bubbling through his soul. Emma Duncan was a balm to his heart and a menace to his self-control. Not to mention his sanity. He’d had more unrequited hard-ons in the past few years than he’d ever had as a teenager. He had first met Em nearly three years ago when she had approached the progress association with her plan for a riding for the disabled centre. She had wanted to have a worthy use for the equestrian complex that was on the exclusive property she had just purchased. One pleasure horse that she used to go for a quick lope about on did not go far in filling up the twenty-horse stable or using the indoor and outdoor arenas the estate was equipped with. He had been intrigued with the pale city girl who looked like she had never picked up anything heavier than her nail file. Such fine, delicate features and a curvy little body just made for sin. He smiled at how inaccurate his first impressions had been. The next time he had seen her had been to go and shoe Barney for the first time. He had been shocked to find the three horses she had acquired neatly and competently trimmed, top-of-the-line shoeing gear nearby. He had picked up her hands, looking at the elegantly manicured, but shortly trimmed nails in disbelief. Not a chip or callus had marred their smooth perfection. He recalled being confused about what to be more concerned about, the fact that the girl knew her way around a rasp, or that she could do a man’s work without bearing a mark from it.

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When he had questioned her about it, he had gotten a taste of her sharp tongue and biting sarcasm. “I know you country folk are a little slow, cowboy, but those things there? Them’s called gloves.” He had since found out that her father had been a business tycoon who had believed in knowing every facet of his business from the ground up. When his daughter had shown interest in horses, she had approached it with the same diligence. She had taken over management of his thoroughbred breeding enterprise at seventeen. Emma could do pretty much anything that might be required with a horse competently and efficiently. Unless it involved Tammy. That horse just set out to ruffle her feathers. And they ruffled so prettily too. In the time he had known her he had became more and more intrigued. The one thing he really wanted to know was her pen name. To have a window to her fantasies, to glimpse her dreams and desires, would be priceless. But so far, both her and that old harridan Beth had remained steadfast. The fact that Beth was his aunt gave him exclusive name-calling rights, god help any other man who thought to. He had thumbed through more romance novels in the past two years than he believed existed. He had even enlisted the aid of Colby and Zach. With their help he had assembled a short list of possibilities. Authors without listed places of residence, in the right age group, with strong heroines. Heaven knew that if the three of them had put this much work into school, they would have been veterinarians and agronomists instead of farriers and feed merchants. He couldn’t wait to tell his brothers that he had finally made some progress with Em. They had been nagging him since he had told them he had found the right woman six months ago. But Em was like a skittish filly, one you wanted to keep for the long haul, not just get a quick ride out of. You didn’t throw a rope on her and overwhelm her. You gave her time, waited for her to come to your hand, and today

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Emma had rewarded his patience. Granted, her hungover state may have weakened her resolve a little, but Ty was taking any victory he could get. The sweet flavor of her lips overshadowed any reservations he had about taking advantage of her less-than-perfect health. She tasted better than any woman he had ever kissed. Perfect. As if her mouth had been made for him. It had taken every scrap of his self-control not to return her caress, his burning desire curtailed as he strove not to frighten her off. Just like that filly, he knew that if he had grabbed hold of her then, she would have spooked. But by allowing her touch without attempting to return it, he was inviting her back for more. He sensed Em was just as inquisitive as any filly ever born. The woman was living like a nun. In the three years Em had lived in Liberty Springs she had never been associated with any scandal or linked to any man. Beth always fed him just enough information to keep him going. She wouldn’t break her client confidentiality rule, but she would give anything to see her nephews happy. She had been more forthcoming with information after Emma had trusted him enough to give him the code to the imposing security gate. He no longer had to wait to be buzzed in, but could enter himself. Only Beth and her husbands, the vet, and more recently, his brothers, also had the code. All knew that to divulge it would be a breach of trust. At first Ty had been cautious of his attraction to Emma. Sophisticated, rich city girls did not go for uneducated country bumpkins of modest means. But he had found her shy uneasiness a challenge. He had long been told he could have his pick of women, but that had lost its appeal some years ago. He had buried the charmer behind hard work and a brusque exterior, but Em had reawakened that part of him. He found himself responding to her easily, the charm and charisma he had once unleashed without compunction coming

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naturally once more. He loved putting a blush on her cheeks or bringing fire to her eyes. And he knew she wanted him, too. She was usually a little more circumspect about it than she had been this morning, but that woman loved looking at him. He even braved sparks from the forge just to let her look her fill while he worked the steel. No one else had seen him at the forge in less than long sleeves, but for Em he would lose the shirt. He couldn’t quite bring himself to strip off his vest. He didn’t have a modest bone in his body, but sparks of molten steel striking his bare chest was not on his list of favorite sensations. The stroke of Emma’s tongue against his had just topped that list, though. A grin curled his lips as he realized it was only a matter of hours until he would get to feel that again. Colb and Zach were going to be green with envy when he told them he had tasted her. Or maybe he wouldn’t. It would serve the juvenile shits right if he just walked up and planted one on her right in front of them. Especially Colb, that man had been nursing a hard-on for Em ever since he laid eyes on her. It had near broken his heart when he found out she hadn’t come to the Springs to indulge in the lifestyles that abounded. Well, the organ that had suffered most was quite a bit lower than his heart. And Zach had despaired of Ty ever finding the one who would be woman enough for the three of them. He heartily approved of his eldest brother’s interest in Emma but doubted she would agree. He had told Ty that if all that romantic slosh he had been frantically reading for clues was any indication of what that woman wanted, he knew he and his brothers could not deliver. Oh, they had that dominant, alpha thing down pat, but the flowery words and honeyed caresses were a long way from the primal, earthy pleasures they would offer. As much as he wanted Emma to be the one for the Whelans to call theirs, Zach would not allow his hopes to build too far. To tell, or not to tell. That was the question.

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Ty pondered the dilemma with glee as he headed towards his next client, Emma’s tantalizing taste ghost-like against his palate. Fuck ’em. They could find out the hard way.

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Chapter 3 By four o’clock that afternoon Emma had butterflies the size of small planes swooping around in her stomach. The satisfaction from introducing a new client to the wonders of equine therapy was diminishing with every tick of the clock toward five. David Manning was a fourteen-year-old boy with Down syndrome. His parents had never considered the therapeutic advantages of horse riding until another client had recommended Em’s centre. The parental concern had melted as Tammy had patiently accepted David’s avid and sometimes extremely vocal attentions. By the end of the hour-long session Em had felt guilty for every time she had threatened bodily harm to the priceless mare. Right up until the bitch had trod on her foot with purposeful intent as Em had returned her to the paddock. The straw broom was raising a cloud of dust as she cleared away the last of the loose hay from the concrete floor, but Em’s mind was far from the motes eddying in the dying sunlight. The Whelan boys held center court in her thoughts as she dragged the pallets back into position. Ty was a no-brainer. The man had her captivated. So intensely male, all that strength and power, and from what she had heard and seen, the man had a heart of gold. There was talk of a playboy past when he had been young and green, but that had been years ago. Ty was now pushing forty, a man in his prime. Settled and sure of himself, he knew what he wanted and how to get it.

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Slightly disconcerted that he had decided she was worthy of his attention, Em toyed with the idea of indulging. But Ty wasn’t a player. If he made a move he was playing for keeps. Everyone knew his brothers were just waiting for him to make his choice. Em was more concerned about what would happen when he did. While hot romance and steamy sheets were her stock in trade, Emma’s reality was very different. At twenty-two she had fallen hard for an up-and-coming lawyer who had swept her off her feet, wining and dining her, full of compliments and clichéd lines. Three years later, one week before her planned wedding, she had found out he was more interested in her trust fund. She had gone to surprise him with dinner one night and found him in bed with her best friend, well, not in bed exactly. She had been shocked to find Carol bent over the kitchen bench, Chance driving hard into her from behind. Carol’s cries of “Oh, yes, that’s it. Right up my ass…” had left no doubt as to the nature of their joining. Em had been dumbfounded. In their time together Chance had been a gentle, uninspired lover. Once a week in the missionary position had been enough for him. If Em had tried to initiate anything he would smile at her patronizingly and tell her, “Later, dear.” Work was more important than sex. Any release she had found was at her own hand or under the thrum of her trusty vibrator, always alone. Chance had been her first lover. Since he had appeared uninterested to experiment in any way, shape, or form, Em had accepted things as they were. She had accepted him as a romantic with little carnal needs. How wrong he had proven her. His parting shot had been that she was a frigid bitch with nothing going for her but her money. No man would ever enjoy sleeping with a cold, unresponsive woman who lived in a fantasy world of roses and romance. A real man wanted his woman wild and willing, not timid and shy.

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So Em had devoted herself to creating the heroes who made a woman feel wanted, cherished, and lusted for. Ones who took responsibility for their woman’s pleasure and made her feel things she had never felt before. She had carefully protected her identity as she had become successful as a writer. Only four people were aware of her alter ego. Her advisor, who had previously been her father’s in the same capacity and had known Em since birth, her publicist, her editor, and now Beth. But somewhere, somehow, someone had tracked down her identity. “Everyone needs a stalker to know they are successful,” her publicist had quipped when the eerie letters had started arriving at her private address. But Emma valued her privacy and feared for her safety as the letters grew more and more sinister. Letters along the lines of “…you have no idea of how a real man treats a woman. I am going to tie you up and show you how to take it like a woman should…When a woman screams a man’s name she should have tears in her eyes, bitch…” When she had asked her advisor to find a suitable location for her to relocate to, she had been pleasantly surprised with Liberty Springs. As a writer, she didn’t care if there was two feet of snow on the ground for damn near half the year, and the walled estate had been perfect for her needs. Henry Sawtell had only wished her happiness there as he had packed her off. He, just like everyone else in her life, would be communicating with her only through distance. So had her stalker. E-mails continued to be sent. Each time Em blocked the sender’s domain, anxious to be rid of him. It was six months since the last threat had arrived. He had promised to find her, find her and make her a star in the sick little fantasy he had going. Em shuddered at the thought, tearing her mind away, refusing to give him room in her head.

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Beth had been a godsend. The woman was steadfast, as loyal and honest as the day was long. Originally employed as a housekeeper, she had proved invaluable as a personal assistant, reorganizing Emma’s life until it ran smoother than ever before. She was great for bouncing ideas off and made the best coffee on God’s green earth. Ron and Joe, her husbands, could be persuaded to come and give a hand with odd jobs like fencing and fixing leaks when needed. Ron also helped with riding sessions. He was a good horseman and enjoyed working with the special needs clients. Overall, Emma was as happy with her life as she had ever been. Sure, she got lonely sometimes, ached to have someone to hold her through the night, but she knew her limitations. Frigid, inexperienced women like her had no business mixing it with the Whelans. As much as Ty set her aflame and the other two piqued her interest, not to mention her ovaries, that way lay danger and disappointment. Well, all she could hope for was that Ty grew tired of her unpracticed responses quickly, before he had a chance to break her heart. She looked around the barn critically. It was as clean as it was going to get. She spied the empty buckets beside the feed bins. Making the morning’s feeds would give her something to do until the hay arrived and give her a few extra minutes in bed the following morning. The bins had clearly been designed for someone with a much longer reach than her modest five-foot-four figure afforded. She was endeavoring to scrape up the last of the oaten chaff, balancing over the edge on her hips when the sound of a truck pulling up outside startled her. She over-balanced, catching herself on her arms at the last moment. Too far gone to lever herself back out, but too stubborn to go all the way and cover herself in chaff to scramble back out, Em held her body in place.

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**** It was the sight of two shapely, denim-clad legs sticking straight up out of the feed bin that met Colby as he stepped down out of the truck. He grinned as he heard the muffled but creative cursing emanating from the bin. Such a sweet-looking package to possess a potty mouth. That woman could curse like a sailor. He ignored the “what the fuck?” that Zach muttered as he puzzled out how she had come to be in that predicament. A predatory grin curled his lips. He didn’t care about how it happened, only the possibilities it presented. Colby made sure he beat the other two to her side. He knew Ty was pulling up behind them in a matter of minutes He peered over the edge, her swearing more audible from this vantage point. The girl really had a way with words. He decided to let her know she had an audience. “I thought you city girls were meant to be smart, Em. The feed goes on the inside. You are supposed to stay on the outside.” “Get me out of here, you jackass!” “Now, now, Em. Is that any way to talk to your knight in shining armor?” “I’ll give you knight in fucking armor, Colby. Get me out of here!” Her face was turning red with both her temper and her extended sojourn in an inverted position. “Come on, darlin’, one little ‘please,’ and I will lift you straight up out of there. I hear you said it this morning. It doesn’t hurt too much.” Zach grinned at her suggestion that Colby go and do something anatomically impossible. “Hey, Em, I’ll help you out. I don’t care if you don’t say please. I just want a kiss.” Colb was somewhat confused when she asked if all the Whelans practiced the same lines, or if it was purely a result of their limited intelligence. Even upside down, her biting wit was undampened.

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Colby reassessed his terms. “No, a kiss is definitely called for. I hear it is the standard reward when rescuing damsels in distress.” With a growl of fury, Em capitulated. “All right, you arrogant, juvenile assholes, one kiss. That’s it! Now get me out of here before I throw up.” Colby shared a triumphant grin with Zach before reaching in to take hold of her shoulders. She could call them any names she wanted as long as they got to taste her before Ty. Both men held her steady as the blood rushed away from her brain. Her legs were so unsteady as she struggled to regain her equilibrium that she needed their support. As soon as her world righted itself, Em visibly braced herself for their onslaught. “Are you going to kiss me or not?” The two brothers shared a look. It was Zach who answered, “Not yet, Em. I think I will save mine for after we finish with the hay. What about you, Colb, you happy to wait?” He grinned, his stormy eyes alight with mischief. “Yeah, anticipation always adds a bit of spice. You just hold that thought, Em. We will have that hay off soon enough.” He patted her on the ass as he made his way back to the truck, ignoring her gasp of outrage. **** Em turned to find Ty watching. “Lovely men, these brothers of yours. No scruples whatsoever.” Ty walked over with a wide grin creasing his stubbled face. “They’re enterprising boys, what can I say?” He reached out and plucked some pieces of chaff from the ends of her hair. “I will get someone over tomorrow to fix up these bins for you. It could have been dangerous if we weren’t here.” “If you lot had not pulled up I wouldn’t have fallen in. I am so freakin’ nervous. It is entirely your fault, Ty.”

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She tried to ignore the intent way his eyes followed her lips as she spoke, but his attention was too much. She licked them nervously, her breath catching as he leant down slightly. “Making you nervous wasn’t what I had in mind, Em. Eager, a little expectant hopefully, but never nervous.” His hand reached up to cup her jaw, his thumb stroking against her bottom lip. “You have nothing to fear from us, darlin’. We won’t take anything you are not willing to give. But give us a chance, Em. We all deserve a little happiness, even you.” He narrowed his focus until Emma was sure nothing in his world existed except for her lips, his head lowering until barely a whisper separated them. But he pulled back with a smile, giving her bottom lip one final sweep of his callused thumb. “I think I will save mine for later, too. I want my taste to be the last one on your lips when you go to bed tonight.” The deep pitch of his voice rumbled along her spine and the smile he shot her as he went to join his brothers was heated, possessive, and full of promise. “Fuck!” The universal expletive didn’t even come close to venting the maelstrom of emotion bombarding Emma. Anger, arousal, anticipation, and the feeling that the world was playing some cruel joke on her warred with the tiny spark of hope that dared to kindle in her heart. She pulled on the heavy chaps and work gloves that would protect her from the hay. Some hard work would help her brain to function once more. That is, if any of these testosterone freaks would let her pick up a bale of hay. An hour later two neatly stacked piles filled the shed. Green, finestalked lucerne hay made up the larger pile while sweet-smelling pasture hay sat opposite. She had been amazed at how quickly the supply had dwindled over winter. Three very sweaty, dust-covered men were finishing up the cleanup, sweeping down the truck bed and tidying the shed. Emma

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had barely a raised a sweat and had but one or two stalks of hay in her hair. Out of the nearly five hundred bales she thought she might have laid a hand on twenty. One of the brothers always seemed to beat her to the next bale. Never overtly, they didn’t push in front of her, yet they always seemed to be there before her. Zach caught her attention, a wide grin creasing his dusty face. “I’ve got about as much dust on the inside as I do on the outside. Have you got a beer for us, Em?” “I think I’ve got a six-pack in the fridge. You know where the basin is if you want to clean up.” She headed off to the house to get the Mexican beer she had brought for the occasion. It was Colby’s favorite. The other two would just have to deal with it or go without. For herself she just grabbed a violently cerise sports drink that Beth had kindly put in the fridge this afternoon. Although Em was feeling much better than when she had woken up this morning, the electrolyte drink would go a long way towards helping her body recover from the abuse she had inflicted upon it last night. The sight that met her when she rounded the corner into the barn stole her breath and every scrap of common sense she had ever possessed. Her nipples pebbled instantly and the flesh between her legs throbbed in demand. Her mind screamed at her that she was creaming over the wrong Whelan, but her body was beyond caring. Zach and Colby stood just inside, blotting water off their magnificently bare torsos with their shirts. Muscles rippled enticingly, decorated by beads of water. Their bodies were lean, but wide through the shoulder, with plenty of mouthwatering depth to their chests. Zach was longer through the waist, making him look leaner than Colby’s bulkier-looking body. But Colby had a darker hue to the hair peppering his chiseled chest, the line drawing her eyes ever downward. Snug denim sat low on both sets of hips.

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Surely there had never been a finer sight. A movement in the corner dragged her eyes from all that bared flesh, and then the scene at the wash basin held her spellbound. Never in all the time she had known him had Emma seen Ty bare-chested. Oh, lord, had she fantasized about what that chest would look like under his navy tank! His wedge-shaped back was exposed to her now as he leaned over the wash basin, splashing water around the back of his neck to get rid of the irritating dust. Corded muscles danced and bulged with every movement of his arms. Such width to that broad back, emphasized so sweetly by his taut waist. The man was a fucking work of art. Em caught her bottom lip in her teeth to contain her gasp as he turned around. His chest was freaking huge! Big slabs of muscle, edges clear cut, like rough-hewn granite. Em’s eyes were held captive by the arresting sight. He was built like a pro wrestler. She bit down harder on her lip, restraining an alien impulse to walk right up and sink her teeth into the tantalizing flesh. Even in her wildest fantasy he had not looked like this. Alpha male, the vestiges of youth long gone, tempered into primal masculinity. All hard lines and brutal strength. Emma melted, his physical dominance stealing away any trace of resistance that existed. Her face flamed as she felt her panties dampen. Never before had she reacted so strongly, felt such arousal. **** Ty had known the moment Em had stepped into the barn. His predatory instincts had detected the hitch in her breathing as she had clapped eyes on his brothers. He could sense her confusion as her body reacted with little thought to propriety.

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He had felt the touch of her eyes, searing like a brand as she had perused his body. Ty had endeavored to stay as he was, to let her look her fill, but the desire to see her reaction overrode his intentions. The way she was biting her bottom lip made him want to do the same, to feel its plush resilience between his teeth. Her hazel eyes were sparkling with tones of unrefined amber, a hue he hadn’t seen in them before. Her breathing was choppy, her breasts straining against the T-shirt she wore, their hardened peaks showing clearly despite the bra containing them. He clenched his jaw as a flush stole up her cheeks and she pressed her legs together. Her body was creaming, and they hadn’t even touched her. He had hoped she would have the passion to keep up with the three of them, but never had he suspected such a raw ardor to lurk beneath her sophisticated façade. He walked toward her. For the first time since reentering the barn, her eyes flew to his face. **** The slate of his eyes was near black, the look so intense she felt its touch all the way to her soul. Emma swallowed as a tiny grin curled the corners of his wide mouth. She felt like a gazelle before a large predator, quivering with the need to flee but unsure of which way to leap. Ty stopped right in front of her, his collarbones level with her eyes. She awaited his move breathlessly, awash with anticipation. She felt the approach of two large bodies behind her, felt the heat of their presence. All avenues of escape had been cut off. Like the gazelle that had been surrounded, she could only freeze, hoping a lack of movement would let the danger pass on by. Her heartbeat slammed in her ears. She could feel the blood racing through her veins.

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She nearly collapsed with relief when Ty merely reached out and plucked the six-pack from her nerveless fingers. He kept his eyes on her as he tore the longneck bottle from the package, a knowing grin playing on his rugged face. He knew damn well just how aroused she was and how close she had come to panic. Only his impeccable timing had defused the situation. She didn’t even flinch when Colby reached around her to take the beer Ty offered, not even when he made sure his bare chest grazed her arm as he did so. She relaxed into the brief contact. Emboldened by her acceptance, Zach went one step further, placing a hand at her waist as he too reached past for an offered drink. **** Identical grins creased their faces as they stepped back and found a seat on bales of hay. The kind of grins that would have earned them the sharp edge of Emma’s tongue if she could have seen them, but with her temper, more likely the flat of her hand. Ty got his own beer and leant against the side of the truck, giving Em time and space to gather her wits. She unscrewed her lethallooking beverage and downed half of it in one go. Ty popped the top of his and tipped the bottle in salute. “Cheers.” The returned salute from his younger brothers was dripping with satisfaction. They knew there was a chance for them to live as they wished. They knew this woman was the one that could hold them together. The curl of their lips as they had scented her arousal had said louder than words that they wanted her, that they, too, knew she was the one. Emma leaned against the feed bins, apparently not trusting her shaking legs to hold her up unassisted. Ty grinned when she turned to look in the offending bin that had got her in the predicament in the first place. “I’ll get Pete to come

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over and put a false floor in those bins for you tomorrow. It will give the old man something to do. He only told me yesterday that he’s getting bored with retirement. It will do him good.” **** Em caught the brief look the younger Whelans shared but could find no reason for their amusement. She had met Pete Walker before and knew he was a former farrier, long since retired. She also knew Ty had done his apprenticeship under his tutelage. Why they would find his presence here reason for raised eyebrows was beyond her. At the moment all she really cared about was regaining control of her traitorous body before any of the brothers decided to claim their kisses. It was so bloody juvenile and so damned clichéd it made her nauseous. So why was her heart pounding with anticipation? Her body burned with the ghosts of their touch. She could still feel the heat of Colby’s chest against her arm, the sure grip of Zach’s hand where he had wrapped her waist, his big hand making her feel tiny. But both paled in comparison to the marks left by the man who hadn’t even touched her. Ty’s mercurial eyes had burned more deeply, searing her very soul. This troubled her more than anything, for while the younger brothers only affected her body, that man had the power to hurt her deeply. Already she felt her heart opening to him, allowing him closer than she had allowed anybody else. She remembered her manners. “Thanks, Ty, I would appreciate that.” She noticed he tossed another beer to each of his brothers before offering the last bottle to her. The small smile saying he knew damn well she wouldn’t be touching anything with alcohol in it for a long time. The thought crossed her mind to say yes just to see him go without but her stomach rebelled at the mere contemplation of tasting the beer.

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“It is all yours,” she assured him. Colby noticed the byplay. “I heard you woke a little seedy this morning. Maybe that is the reason for your ungrateful behavior this afternoon. You know, you really shouldn’t drink if you get nasty.” “I am just fine when I drink, Colby. It is the next day I have trouble with.” “Damn! Sounds like we should have been there then.” “I can assure you, Colby, I am no more accommodating tipsy than I am sober. I just talk a hell of a lot more.” “I bet you swear a hell of a lot more, too,” Ty interjected. “Ladies only swear when provoked, and you lot are enough to rouse a saint to swear.” Em’s voice slipped into a haughty, schoolteacher attitude, bringing a smile from all three men. “Well, you and that bitch of a horse,” she amended. “You wouldn’t believe how much the boys at the Kat enjoy the updates on their sponsored animal.” Zach grinned. “Connor and Callum just love the fact that Tammy makes your life a living hell. They think it is sweet justice for not dropping in to the club for a visit. You know you are the only legal-age resident in the valley who hasn’t been through those doors?” “I doubt your aunt goes in there.” Em couldn’t help but defend herself. “Beth is in there every Friday night without fail. It is just another club, like every other bar when you walk in, Em. If you want some other action you have to head to one of the back rooms. It’s just beer and dancing in the front,” Zach assured her. “You should come this Friday, we’ll be...” Ty choked on his beer. The coughing fit interrupted his brother. “We’ll be there,” Zach finished very deliberately. Ty recovered with amazing speed, glancing at his watch. “Best we be getting home. We had better let Em get up to the house before dark. I doubt she would accept an escort, as much as we would be happy to oblige.”

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Colby stood first, dropping his empty bottles into a bin. Em bravely held her ground as he sauntered over, glee dancing in his pale blue eyes. “Time to collect my Good Samaritan reward for the day.” He stopped in front of Em. “I thought you were supposed to be a knight in shining armor?” she teased. “Whatever you want, Em. I don’t care what you call me as long as I get my kiss.” His grin was infectious. It was hard to take the man seriously. Way too much boyish enthusiasm leaked out for that. She couldn’t help but smile as he raised her chin with his finger. Her lips were still smiling as his kiss ghosted over them. A gentle caress, like a whisper of silk. His warm breath touched her a moment before he laid an open-mouth kiss on her bottom lip, sucking at the plump flesh briefly before stepping back, not giving her a chance to reciprocate. “See you later, Em.” His smile was pure sin as he headed for the truck. “Mmm, my turn, I believe.” Zach stepped up against her, his hand going once more to her waist, gray eyes laughing. “One little kiss, so many possibilities.” His gaze swept the column of her neck, sending the pulse fluttering beneath her jaw before coming to rest at the base. He moved his head slowly, giving her time to pull away. The brush of his mouth was a revelation of tactile contrasts. The grazing stubble of beard deliciously juxtaposed with the slide of satiny lips. Her eyes fell closed as pleasure swamped her. She caught herself before she begged for a harder touch, wanting to feel his teeth against the tender flesh of her neck. Her eyes flew open to find Ty watching closely, his dark gray eyes approaching ebony once more. Rather than dampening her desire, knowing he watched only heightened the intensity. Her head lolled to the side, affording Zach even greater access, but with a gentle nip, he pulled away. He looked down into her hazy eyes, his smile heating. “For that response, gorgeous, I would rescue

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you anytime.” His smile was evaluating as he went to join Colby in the truck. Ty waited until they pulled away before approaching Em. She watched him draw near, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the edge of the feed bin behind her. Before she could protest he scooped her up and deposited her on the lid, bringing her up to his height. “That’s better. Now I won’t break my back bending to reach you.” He smiled at her. “Still nervous, darlin’?” Em could only nod, his proximity stealing what little remained of her acumen. He nudged her knees apart with his hips until he rested between them. The bin stopped the contact from becoming any more intimate. “You shouldn’t be. I would never do anything to you that you didn’t want.” “That is what has me worried,” Em admitted. “I don’t like that I can’t control my body around you.” “Or Zach and Colb?” “Or those two idiots,” she admitted, face burning hotly. His hands rested lightly on the sides of her thighs, stroking soothingly. “You have no idea how long I have wanted to hear you say that. Give us a chance, Em. Let us show you how good it can be. You will own us lock, stock, and barrel, darlin’. There is nothing we wouldn’t do for you.” “Except leave me alone?” “That is no longer an option, Em. The moment you held my gaze, heat sparkling in those whiskey eyes of yours while my brother ran his teeth down your neck, you sealed your fate. It is just a matter of time, and whether you surrender gracefully or do this the hard way.” “Surrender is not in my vocabulary, Ty.” “That is so good to hear, darlin’. The hard way is so much more fun.” Heat radiated from every word, dripping with carnal intent.

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Emma squirmed, unaccustomed to the level of arousal assaulting her senses. “Tell me, Em, has anyone ever made you this wet before?” Emma spluttered as she struggled to refute his claim. “Don’t deny it, darlin’. Your sweet perfume is on the air, and it’s going to my head quicker than any liquor ever has. Now answer the question.” His gaze held her prisoner, daring her to be bold. “No, no one has, Ty, and that is what scares me most. I am not that type of woman. I never respond like this. I write about crap that I know nothing about.” He slipped his hands upward to rest on her hips. “Oh, I think you know plenty about it, Em. You just haven’t found anyone man enough to bring out this side of you. And believe me, honey, all three of us are man enough to do whatever you desire.” “I am scared you will be disappointed, Ty.” She blurted out the truth before she could reconsider. “Disappointed? Darlin’, nothing you could do would disappoint me except not give this a chance to work. The only thing I insist on is honesty. I don’t want you pretending or just going along with things because we want it. You are in control. We might push your boundaries a little, but we would never do anything that would harm you. “Has that got you worried, that we might want to do things that you haven’t had any experience with?” She nodded. “I am not very experienced at all, Ty,” she admitted, glad for the failing light that concealed her shame. “You have had sex, right?” His tone said he was hoping to hell she said yes. “A while ago.” “Did you come?” “No,” she whispered. “Oral sex?”

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She shook her head. “I have never even seen a naked man in daylight, not in the flesh, anyway.” The Internet was such an excellent research tool. He slid his hand around to caress the firm globe of her ass. “I suppose then that no man has ever known the pleasure of this ass?” **** Ty caught her cry of outraged denial with his mouth. He unleashed every bit of seductive technique he had ever perfected on her poor, unsuspecting mouth. Her untutored response rocked him as she licked into his mouth, the hot spear of her tongue shocking him with its blatantly carnal caress. He pulled her closer, feeling the clasp of her legs as her thighs wrapped him, her hot centre instinctively rocking against the steely erection tenting his jeans. Her nipples rasped against his bare chest even through the layers of fabric she wore. Her palms came to rest hesitantly on his shoulders. He groaned encouragingly as her hands greedily explored his bared skin, kneading and stroking the bunched muscles of his arms and shoulders. His hand massaged her ass, encouraging her grinding rhythm against his tortured flesh. Her mewls and gasps were the sweetest sounds to ever fall on his ears. She was dynamite in his arms. Burning hot, coiled so tight, so ripe to explode. He lifted her a little, angling his hips so that he knew her jeans pressed against her clit with every sultry roll of her hips. He hadn’t felt this close to coming in his pants since he was fifteen, and even then he would have had the good sense to retreat and finish himself off properly. But he could only grit his teeth and endure. Nothing was more important at that moment than seeing her come apart in his arms. Not

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his own needs, not the zipper print being permanently embossed into his aching cock, nothing but her pleasure. He tore his mouth away from the sweet nectar of hers, his stubbled chin dragging along her jaw to attack her neck. Her head rolled to the side as she ground even harder against him, exposing the vulnerable line of her throat to his ravening mouth. He bit lightly to gauge her response. The ensuing moan emboldening him. He raked his teeth the length of her throat to nip at the base. Her cries grew more frenzied as he bit along her shoulder, nosing her shirt aside. “Come for me, darlin’.” He growled against her skin. Ty bit down hard and ground his cock furiously against the swollen, tender flesh of her pussy. Emma’s head fell back as pleasure held her in its sway, an orgasm of immense proportions tearing through her. Ty lifted his head, watched the pleasure play over her features. Satisfaction surged through him as she experienced the first non-self-induced orgasm of her life right there in his arms. He held her close as her breathing settled, enjoying the feel of a sated woman in his arms, this sated woman. She fit so well. He had thought her too small to feel right, too delicate. He was a full foot taller than her, and probably outweighed her two to one, but no other woman had ever felt so right. Eventually she lifted her head from where she had buried her face in the bend of his neck. Her eyes were heavy as she sought his for answers in the gathering dusk. He knew the satisfaction he felt did not quite mask the need still burning within. “Well, to throw your own words back at you, Ty. That was some kiss.” She wiggled slightly against the bulge that had not diminished in any way. “But I seem to have gotten the better part of the deal.” “As you should.” He kissed her forehead as he lowered her to the ground. Unable to resist one last little bit of self-torture, he slid her the whole way down over his tumescent flesh. He kept his hands on her hips until he was sure she could stand unsupported. “Come on, I’ll walk you up to the house.”

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His hand stayed solicitously at the small of her back until she stood at the front door, illuminated by the movement-activated security lights. He debated on kissing her once more, but he had already used up his quota for the day and his cock was getting ready to override his brain and demand some satisfaction. Instead he turned her towards the door and patted her nicely rounded rear. “Get inside and lock the door, Em, before I do something we will both regret. I’ll catch up with you on the weekend.” “Good night, Ty.” She spoke softly as she closed the door. Ty waited until he heard the turn of the lock before he moved away. That she lived behind fortified walls told him that she had good reason to keep her doors locked tight. Until she was his to protect, he felt a need to make sure she continued to take her safety seriously. But that need was a distant second at the moment, he thought wryly, adjusting his cock behind its denim prison. He wasn’t sure if the wet spot was from his pre-cum or her juices soaking through, and he didn’t really care. Emma Duncan was all but his. Sticky jeans and an aching cock were a small price to pay.

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Chapter 4 Pete Walker arrived just after lunch the next day. Beth had buzzed him through the gate before telling Em she had better drag herself away from the keyboard and go and see him. Em left reluctantly. Finally an idea was playing out for her. The story of Kenneth, eldest brother of the newly invented Dougal clan, was coming together. Her stories were always character driven, but usually predominantly from the heroine’s perspective. This was proving to be driven by the domineering, conceited laird who was taking up residence in Em’s headspace. Twice she had caught her telltale fingers typing “Ty” instead of “Kenneth.” Her subconscious was relaying covert messages to the offending digits without getting clearance from a higher authority. Although the only functioning higher authority at the moment was her libido, and that was a recipe for disaster. Pete was waiting for her at the barn. She didn’t know how old Pete was, but the gray hair did not match his lean and hard body. While the weathered face put him near sixty, the spring in his step and the twinkle in his blue eyes had her thinking not a day over forty-five. He held a tape measure in one hand and offered the other in greeting. Every time she met him, he shook her hand. While he showed his appreciation of her form with a look and a wink, he never overstepped the bounds of decency. His grip was hard and warm; this man knew just how to shake hands, his grasp firm without being too tight. There was nothing worse than a man who shook a woman’s hand as if he were afraid of breaking it.

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“Howdy, Emma. The lad tells me you need some new bottoms in these bins, something about suiting the depth to your reach?” His smile told her that Ty had been forthcoming about the details of her little sojourn in the chaff bin, but he was too much of a gentleman to mention it. “That would be much appreciated, Pete. I didn’t know you did any carpentry. I had been considering calling one of the Marshalls over to fix it, but Ty said you would do it.” Pete laughed, his blue eyes dancing. “As if that boy would let either of those Marshall brothers within sight of you. Ty thinks I am too old and decrepit to be any threat.” “There is nothing decrepit about you, Pete,” Emma assured him. “Well, don’t go telling him that, love, or I will never be allowed to set foot on the place again.” His eyes swept over the telltale redness on her pale throat. “Those boys are so damn protective of you it ain’t funny. And that was before they had just cause.” Emma flushed as she realized she had neglected to cover the obvious beard rash Ty had left on her tender skin. “I’m not theirs yet, Pete. Nor am I likely to be if they don’t give up their high-handed ways. “Can you believe they want me to go to the Kat on Friday night?” “I bet it wasn’t Ty that asked you there then.” “No, it was Zach, why?” “And I thought it would have been Colby. He’s usually the one who opens his mouth without saddling his brains.” Emma blinked. “You have lost me, Pete.” “Let’s just say that they will be a little busy to be beating the young bucks away from you. The last thing Ty would want is for you to be there without one of them by your side. “I think you would enjoy it, though. If you are curious enough, I would be more than happy to escort you, Em. It might be kind of fun to rub his nose in the old and decrepit bit.” A smile creased his lined face, the rogue in him shining through. “It has been a while since I’ve

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been out and about with a pretty, young thing on my arm. What do you say, Em, come dancin’ with me?” Em thought it through. Friday was two nights away. She really should be writing while the story was hot, but she was intrigued. What could have the Whelans too busy to keep an eye on her? If they were playing depraved games in one of the back rooms they had told her about, it would be a good chance to quash this thing before it went any further. A smile curled her lips. “I would love to, Pete.” “You’ve made my day, girl. Now bend over this bin and show me where you want the new bottom.” He laughed at the suspicious look she shot him. “Oh, I might have a peek, Em, but I don’t touch what ain’t mine. Those boys have got too damn big to be risking bodily harm at their hands. Might just be worth it, though.” He gave her a wink as he extended the tape measure down into the bin. Em laughed wryly and reached down. If the worst thing that happened today was Pete taking a harmless look at her ass, it was looking up. **** Five chapters in two days; it was a record for her. Emma was damn pleased with herself as she dressed for her night out at the Kat. She was meeting Pete in town at eight. He had offered to pick her up, but Em liked the independence of having her own vehicle. And the excuse not to drink. Beth had assured her it was casual wear only on Friday nights, so she pulled on a pair of sinfully low-cut jeans that cupped her rounded ass like a second skin, and a deeply V’d crossover top that framed her cleavage but stopped short of slutty. Cowboy boots, French perfume, and a chunky pendant necklace topped it off. She debated on the matching charm bracelet. With a shrug she slipped it on. It would give her something to fidget with besides the

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pendant; men always thought you were drawing attention to your breasts when you did that. Although she was going there with Pete, there was only one person she was dressing to impress. Perhaps three, if she dared to be totally honest with herself. Arming the security system, she exited into the adjoining garage. The black BMW coupe beeped happily at her approach. Em loved the zippy little car. She rarely had cause to drive it, the big pickup being more practical, but tonight there was no snow on the horizon and she felt like a little luxury. Pete was waiting under the portico in front of the entrance to the Kinky Kat. He looked half his age in dress jeans, freshly pressed shirt, and a clean cowboy hat. Em gave him an appreciative smile as she looked him over. “You scrub up pretty well for a decrepit old man, Pete.” “And you, love, are going to get me shot. I bet those boys have never seen you looking as fine as this.” He gestured for her to do a turn for him. Em complied with a smile. “Damn, girl, you should have to get a special license to wear those jeans. There is gonna be men tripping over themselves all night trying to get a second look at that ass.” Emma blushed at his remarks, but he laughed and offered his arm, escorting her through the infamous red doors. The gentle throb of upbeat country music met her ears as she stepped through. The club took her by surprise; it was clean, airy, and projected a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. Beth gave her a wave and a wink from where she perched on a barstool between her doting husbands. Emma could feel eyes boring into her from every direction. She was pleased and more than a little relieved when Pete showed her to a table for two against the wall. She nearly jumped out of her skin when the PA system crackled to life announcing that ladies’ hour had just commenced, advertising half-price cocktails for the next hour. While Em had not planned on

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having anything to drink, she knew that one would be fine. She allowed Pete to get her a piña colada. She glanced around but could see no sign of the Whelans. The band was getting ready to start on the corner stage at the far end of the sparsely populated dance floor, and she could see Callum and Connor drifting in her direction, but no Ty. The Keenans were definitely heading straight for her, but Pete had also spotted their approach. He sat in the seat opposite before either of the proprietors of the establishment could claim the position. “Ms. Duncan, so nice to see you here.” Connor’s voice was cultured and refined as gave Pete a look that said he knew exactly what the older man had done. “I do hope you will save a dance for me later. When your watchdog is not so vigilant, perhaps?” Emma had met the brothers any number of times in the course of starting up the RDC. They were active members of the progress association and were involved in just about every community project going. They were also suave, sophisticated, and charming as hell. She had just heard a bit too much about their sexual proclivities to ever consider sampling their charms. They made the Whelans look like choirboys. “Thank you, Connor, but I will give it a miss. Hello, Callum.” Callum treated her to his best smile as he returned the greeting. The two moved on to the next table after some cryptic remarks asking Pete if he had brought her to see the band. She gave him a puzzled look. “The band is local, but they haven’t played together for a while. It promises to be a good evening.” He was no more forthcoming than that. Em sipped the fruity coconut concoction as she checked out the bar. It truly was just like any other. There were pool tables in the corner, a bistro through an archway opposite. Plenty of seating was available around the bar area and the dance floor was huge. There was just a black door with a discreet “members only” sign to remind her that all was not what it seemed.

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Lights came on illuminating the corner stage as the first heavy thrum of a bass guitar came through the speakers. They were halfway through “Copperhead Road” before Em recognized the cocky grin on the singer. She choked inelegantly on her drink. “Fuck! I mean hell, that’s Colby.” Pete chuckled at her correction of language. “You might want to bite your tongue while you take a look at who else is up there if you are worried about swearing in front of me, girl.” “I’ll be…” “You probably will be if they have anything to say about it.” Emma ignored the older man’s crude humor as she stared at the bass player. Yep, it was Ty. There was no mistaking those shoulders, and Zach played guitar. She had no idea who was on the drums. For the best part of an hour she sat spellbound as they went through one classic after another. Colby clearly loved every second of being up on stage. He looked larger than life, playing up to the crowd and encouraging people out on to the dance floor. Zach wasn’t much different, joining in for choruses. Their voices were so smooth and flowing. She had never suspected either of them could hold such a singing voice. Ty just stood back and played, rhythm flowing from his body into his finger tips. Beth came over, breathless from her most recent trip around the dance floor. “What do you think of your boys now?” “They are amazing. I had no idea any of them could carry a tune.” “I haven’t seen them play for years. They’re only up there now because Zach and Colb forfeited against the Marshalls.” Emma raised her eyebrows in question. “Don’t ask” was Pete’s interjection. He looked over at Em. “What is it going to take to get you out on that floor? Not much point bringing you here if I can’t rub their noses in it, is there?” “If they play me some Toby Keith, I’ll get out there.” Beth gave her a wink. “I’ll see what I can do.”

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They watched as Beth made her way through the crowded dance floor and saw Ty lean down so he could hear her. Even from this distance she could see the wicked smile that lit up his face. This was not going to be good. Beth came back giggling like a schoolgirl. “All done, but it’s going to cost you. He said, ‘Same price as usual, but we all get a dance, too.’ I take it you know what he means?” “Oh, shit.” “Should I have not said that would be fine then? A dance won’t kill you, girl. In case you haven’t realized, all three of those boys are keeper material.” Emma winced. Beth did have to remind her of her drunken ramblings. She looked up on stage to see all the band conferring and had a feeling things had just been taken out of her hands. Zach turned with a grin, the first bars of “How Do You Like Me Now?” coming from his guitar. “That’s your cue, Em. Time to put your money where your mouth is.” Pete stood and offered his hand. Emma let him lead her on to the floor. “This one’s for a friend of ours who should be mighty careful of where he puts his hands.” Colby’s voice came through loud and clear, bringing a chuckle from Pete as he twirled her to face him right in front of the stage. Emma had a ball. Pete was fun to dance with, his technique more about putting on a show for the younger men stuck up there on stage than any particular style. Emma found herself twirled and dipped, laughing at Pete’s antics. She was breathless by the time the song drew to a close. He dipped her right in front of the stage as the song finished. “We will be back shortly, folks.” Recorded swing music replaced the band. Em was raised from the dip to find three Whelans staring at her dance partner. Ty put his hand out and took her hand from Pete. “Your eyes were slipping a little low there at the end, old man.”

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“I am only human, despite rumors to the contrary,” Pete assured him, smiling and looking pointedly at the possessive way Ty drew her in close. “You lot enjoy yourselves. Em, I’m gonna be right over there holding up the bar if you need rescuing.” He gave her a smile and left her with the brothers. “So did we earn our dance, Em?” Ty turned her so that she faced him, one of her small hands held loosely in his. “You know you did. You are all really good.” She gave them all a slightly nervous smile. “So who gets first dance?” Ty spoke up first. “I’ll take it.” Emma was surprised. She expected him to want to be last. The other two jumped back up on stage. Ty gathered her close as something slow and dreamy started up. Pressed against his hard body with the beat of the music around them, the gentle sway held Em enthralled. Ty kept his eyes on her, the heat in his gaze finding an echo in her pooling amber depths. His strength surrounded her. She felt cosseted, protected by the embrace of his heavy arms. He leaned down slowly. She was waiting for him to kiss her, but he stopped with his breath caressing her ear. “What’s the song you have always wanted to slow dance to, Em? The one that makes your eyes close?” She recalled swaying softly every time she heard Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown,” wishing she was held in a lover’s arms. Toby Keith’s cover made her want to do it naked. When she whispered it to him, she felt him grin against the soft skin of her cheek. This time his lips grazed her sensitive earlobe as he bent with an evil grin. “You just make sure you tell Colb he owes me.” She felt a deliberate kiss on the shell of her ear before he gently removed her hands from where they had entwined around his neck. She was surprised to see Zach standing before her. She hadn’t even realized the song had finished. A devilish gleam in his eye held

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her captive as he swept her into his arms. “You know the best thing about dancing, Em?” She shook her head, unable to do anything but return his smile. “It gives me an excuse to put my hands all over you and nobody thinks anything of it.” To demonstrate he splayed his hand low on her back, the long, elegant fingers resting on the swell of her ass. He held her firmly but would not let her bring her body flush with his. “As much as I would love to have you rub that hot, little body all over me, I have to get back up on that stage. I can’t be doing that with a hard-on.” The song was a Gary Allen, with just enough of a tempo to do more than slow dance. Em soon discovered it was fun to tease Zach, bumping into him accidently at about crotch level. He didn’t believe the innocent eyes she gave him for one second. “That’s it, sweetheart, you keep teasing. Just remember that I probably know a few more tricks than you, and I have no compunctions about using them.” He leaned in a touch until her nipples grazed against his chest with every movement and slid his hand just a little lower until he could cup her ass through the denim. Emma noticed he only did this when her rear was facing the stage. To tease his brothers, or to protect her from prying eyes? By the time the song drew to a close she wouldn’t have cared if he had stripped her off and taken her right there in the middle of the dance floor. God, that man had some moves! But it was the wicked eyes he held her spellbound with that affected her the greatest. They promised pleasures she couldn’t name, iniquitous thoughts and sinful dreams. A gray so stormy she swore she saw lightning crackle in their depths. Colby’s laughing blue eyes were a reprieve until the music started up. She glanced around to see that Ty stood behind the microphone. Colby lowered his head until she could hear him over the cheers of the small crowd. “Ty doesn’t sing for just anyone, Em. He said to tell you that this one comes with interest.”

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The slide of the steel guitar told her it was a bluesier version he was singing, but it was “Sundown.” Ty’s voice was sinfully deep, a slight vibrato causing goose bumps to erupt down her spine. Colby noticed the telltale shiver. “His voice goes right through you, huh?” Emma could only nod. Ty’s voice went right through her all right, straight to her womb. His voice alone flooded her panties with a new deluge. She clung to Colby, her solid anchor in a storm of sensual decadence that moved her as it would. She felt his hands at her waist, his hips pressed against her abdomen as he joined her in the sultry rhythm. Even when he turned her so that his body cupped her back, the sinuous hip roll that moved her whole body continued. Her head rested back against his chest, lolling with the music. Her eyes closed gently, her lashes laying long and thick against her cheek. He splayed one big hand high, his thumb resting between her breasts, the other he laid lower, the very tips of his fingers flirting with indecency. His thigh pressed against her ass so that she rode it every time she moved her hips. Emma didn’t care. **** Colby couldn’t believe his luck. Never would he have believed the little spitfire possessed such a sensual side. This was a different woman in his arms from the one he had kissed the other night. Supple and lithe, her curvy, little body moved to the music as if her very blood pulsed with the throb of Ty’s bass. He wanted to rip those taunting little jeans off her and thrust inside her, feel her sway around his cock with the same dreamy abandon. He lifted his gaze from the woman slowly gyrating against his body for all of two seconds, just long enough to be sure that Ty was seeing this. By the color on his cheeks the man was doing well to remember the words, let alone what order they went in. He did notice that Ty

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gave him an extra final chorus to stretch the experience out. He owed Ty big time. **** The last chord had died out before Emma became aware of her surroundings. Colby still held her, though the placement of his hands had regained a modicum of decorum. She opened her eyes, her head resting back against the swell of his chest. Blue eyes looked down at her, but the laughter was gone. Searing heat blazed forth, magnified when she didn’t look away. It was one of the Keenans coming to the stage and thanking the band for its time that pulled Emma from her dreamy state. Especially when Connor made some wise-ass comment about the girls of summer crying because the Whelans had been taken off the market. Emma was mortified when she realized the whole town would now think she was theirs. By the fury in Colby’s eyes, he was not happy with the situation either, but it was Zach that put a restraining hand on Ty’s shoulder when it swelled with impending violence. Instruments were quickly stowed away, and Emma was herded out the door. She noticed Ty stop and talk briefly to Pete, but he was there opening the door to the big dual cab the boys were leading her to. She pulled him up short before he could follow her into the spacious cab. “I brought my car. I’m not leaving that in a car park all night.” Ty put his hand out for the keys. “I’ll drive it.” His eyes asked for her trust. She fished the keys out of her pocket and handed them over. “See you at home.” He shut the door, leaving her in the cab behind Zach and Colby, and slapped the door to send them off. She was glad of the breathing space. They hadn’t asked her if she wanted to go with them, and if they had continued to touch her, thought wasn’t a viable option. Did she want them? Hell yeah!

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Was it an intelligent choice to make? Fuck no. Did she really care at this moment? Well that was the $64,000 question. The lust in the truck was so thick you could taste it. She was even wetter than she had been the night Ty brought her to orgasm. Colby’s erection had felt huge against her back as she had danced mindlessly against him, and the way he fidgeted behind the wheel told her that it hadn’t subsided. The stormy glances Zach shot her over his shoulder said the hunger was riding him, too. Hard. They drove a couple of miles out of town and bumped down a drive to pull up beside her zippy, little coupe. Ty must have given it a fair caning to get here before them. He came to the door and helped her down, his arm going around her as he ushered her towards the house. He stopped at the door, calming her edginess. “All I want to do is collect my kiss, darlin’. Anything else is entirely up to you.” He raised his hand, the broad callused expanse cupping her face. “Live a little. Give us a chance to show you what you have been missing all these years. There is no pressure, Em. If you want me to give my word that none of us will make love to you tonight, no matter how much you beg, I will.” “You would?” “For you? Absolutely.” Her eyes sought the two figures standing on either side. “Are you two okay with that?” “Anything to get my mouth on those hard little nipples that were rubbing all over me earlier,” Zach promised. Colby agreed, “I’ll go along with anything that will put you back in my arms, Em.” Em took a deep breath. “Then show me what I’ve been missing before I have a chance to think this through.”

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Chapter 5 A smile curled the corners of Ty’s mouth. “You have no idea how happy you just made me, darlin’.” He lifted her into his arms, his lips meeting hers, tongue lapping at her addictive taste as he headed through the door. The way her thighs instinctively wrapped his waist had him digging deep for control. So much unrealized potential! Untapped passion and pure hunger! If they took their time, they had a chance to bind Emma to them forever. Saturate her with pleasure she had never known and she was as good as theirs. But even more he wanted her heart, to entwine her life with theirs. Sexual release, even of the type the Whelans favored, was readily available in Liberty Springs. Single women drifted through the town regularly in search of an escape, an experience to remember. Some of them merely wanted to satisfy their curiosity. Others lived the lifestyle. His brothers had made a name for themselves as ladies’ men, a double team that were a hard act to follow. But the eternal search for pleasure had grown empty. They wanted more, a woman to call their own, one who had a big enough heart to love all three of them. One who was strong enough to not let them walk all over her. And one who had enough heat and passion to love them through the night. **** Ty carried her right through to the master bedroom, recessed lighting burning low. Zach turned the cover back on the king-size bed

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as Ty held Emma in his arms. Colby came to stand behind her, pushing her hair over her shoulders. His hungry lips went for her sensitive nape as his work-roughened hands came to rest on her upper arms. Em shivered at the sensation of male heat surrounding her. It was too much. Too much, yet not nearly enough. She broke away from Ty’s seductive mouth to gasp as Colby’s teeth grazed at her skin. She wanted to beg for a harder touch, to feel those strong, white teeth hold her captive, to force her to submit. Gray eyes bled to nearly black watched her soak up his brother’s touch, watched the slackness enter her face with each scrape of teeth. “A bit harder, Colb. I think Em likes a bit of edge to her lovin’.” Colby made a sound that was nearly a growl as he captured her nape in his teeth. The sound alone sent licks of heat curling along her spine. The sensation was devastating, capturing her free will and unleashing a part of her that cared for nothing but the pleasure. Her fingers bit into Ty’s thick neck as she struggled to hold her very bones together. She felt as if she would melt into a puddle on the ground. Her world shrank to the harsh grip of Colby’s teeth and the large body she was twined around. **** Ty watched her submit to his brother’s bite with anticipation building in the very air. All three of them were dominant as hell in the bedroom. They enjoyed giving their lovers more than they could ever experience with just one man. If a woman didn’t like that edge of pain, that bit of spice that pushed the envelope, then choices were extremely limited. Zach in particular had been concerned that her idea of loving had been colored too much by writing the romantic drivel he had been reading in his effort to discern her identity.

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But Ty could see earthy fire in the woman in his arms. A wanton of fleshly needs, not a princess of saccharine words and innocent caresses. Ty lifted his eyes from the beguiling sight, seeing Zach watching with hunger building in the taut lines of his face. He knew he wasn’t the only one to notice her abandoned reaction. He waited for Colby to relinquish his hold on her silken skin before he sat on the edge of the bed. Ty toed his boots off and lay back across the head of the bed. Em demurred when he disengaged her death grip on his hips, but found a distraction in his shirt buttons when he brought her to lie across his chest. As Emma attacked Ty’s buttons, Colb and Zach moved in on her boots, using every chance to caress her denim-clad legs. **** Frustration got the better of her and the last three buttons went flying as Emma jerked the cotton open. She didn’t have a chance to enjoy her victory because two sets of hands turned her in Ty’s embrace. She found herself flat on her back with the velvet heat of Ty’s corrugated stomach beneath her head. Em couldn’t think of a better pillow. But that was momentarily forgotten as Zach and Colby knelt on either side of her. Their hands reached for her simultaneously. Colby went for the fly of her jeans and Zach peeled her shirt slowly up her ribcage. He gave her a chance to stop him, but the intensity of his stormy eyes was captivating, enthralling. Daring her to lay there and see what he could offer her. They were lost for a second as the clingy material cleared her head, but the heat in his gaze doubled as he stared at the lush mounds peeping out the top of her lavender satin bra. The hip roll that helped Colby off with her jeans was purely coincidental. An involuntary writhe as the bare skin of her shoulders

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contacted Ty’s molten stomach. He had propped himself on the pillows so that her head lay on his chest and he had a clear line of sight down her body. **** “So fucking beautiful,” Ty growled in her ear. He ached to run his hands all over the contours. Hell, not his hands, he wanted that body under his tongue. His mouth watered with the need to taste her, to feel those plump breasts in his mouth, to lap her nectar from the pussy that darkened her silk panties with its arousal. But this time he would watch. Watch and gauge her reaction, talk her through and encourage her to let go of her inhibitions. Hold her secure in his arms as his brothers heaped their attentions upon her and taught her more about her body than she had ever known. It was a fucking crime that a woman with so much potential had reached thirty ignorant of the pleasures to be found with a lover. “Look at Zach, darlin’,” he whispered darkly in her ear. “He is just dying to get those hard little nipples of yours in his mouth. I saw you teasing him earlier. I saw those nipples get hard for him. Do you want his mouth on your breasts, Em?” **** “Oh, God, yes, anything.” She was overwhelmed by the fleshly pleasures they promised. Anything to sate the hunger they had incited. Beneath hooded lids she watched Zach reach for her bra. His lips brushed the tops of the swollen mounds as his hands slid beneath her to undo the clasp, his breath warm against her. She could feel Colby’s hand resting like a dream on her thigh, caressing without moving, soaking up the feel of her fevered skin.

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Zach skimmed the straps down over her shoulders. The weight of three pairs of eyes followed the leisurely progress of the material over her breasts. Ty’s muscles clenched beneath her when the edge of the cups caught on the erect peaks. She heard the rough intake of breath from three male throats when Zach pulled the material free. Ty’s rough hands rasped over her skin, sliding up her sides to cup her exposed breasts. His thumbs raked over the puckered nipples, rolling the aching buds beneath the callused digits. He plumped the flesh, kneading the resilience. She gave a whimper of want as she arched into his touch. “My God, Em. I have never been jealous of those two, but I am about to be right now.” Like a synchronized dream, the two younger brothers reached for her, their hands finding her fevered flesh but a frantic heartbeat before their esurient mouths. Emma’s neck arched as the hot wetness encircled the peaks of her breasts. Lapping, laving, before greedily drawing upon them. **** Ty held her secure, taking in every nuance of her reaction. Her features slack with pleasure, mouth falling open as her eyes drifted shut. He wanted her to watch, to see the men who were lavishing attention upon her, to know that it was them, and they alone who gave her pleasure. He grasped a fistful of her thick hair, lifting her head as he brought his lips to brush her ear. “Watch them, Em, watch them suckle at you. See how much you affect us. I’m so hard right now, darlin’. So hard knowing that you will let us love you, let us give you pleasure. Are you wet, Em? Are you soaking those panties right now?” He tightened his grip against her scalp, demanding an answer. “Yes, Ty. I’m so wet.” She writhed, pressing her thighs together. He watched as she tried to bring some relief as his torrid words mated

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with the sweet suction engulfing her breasts, sending her higher in the flames. “I bet they are just dying to taste you. Have you ever had someone go down on you, darlin’? Has anyone licked all that cream from your hot little pussy?” “No, no one.” Her voice was all but inaudible, but Zach and Colby stopped as if poleaxed. Her nipple slipped out of Colby’s mouth with an audible pop as he looked at Zach in disbelief. His blue eyes darkened at the thought of being the first to give her oral pleasure. His growling of “mine” was lost in his haste to be the first one there. **** Zach didn’t care. If no one had gone down on Em before there were going to be plenty more firsts to claim. He lifted his eyes to lock with hers. They glowed with the heat of well-aged whiskey, and were just as intoxicating. Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. He couldn’t help but sample the wetly shining curves of which he had not yet partaken. He meant to savor the experience, to lead her deeper into the sensual dance ever so slowly, but the little live wire had different plans. The moment his lips meshed with hers, the hot spear of her tongue darted out, licking along the inner part of his upper lip. The sensitive nerve endings short-circuited at the untaught caress. With a groan, he fell into her mouth, his tongue intent on pillaging the depths of her mouth, but Emma had the same idea. Their tongues dueled for supremacy. Teeth nipped and lips were bruised as their mouths battled. Zach refused to back down just on general principle, but Em was intent only on her pleasure, and that meant having as much of her against as much of him as was humanly possible. Zach knew she didn’t give a flying fuck who was dominant. She just wanted it all and she wanted it now.

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But Colby came to his rescue. Emma screamed into his mouth as his brother ran his tongue the length of her folds. Zach gave her one last kiss to assert himself before rolling to his side, one hand playing over the tight berries adorning her ivory mounds. He wanted to watch, too. It was going to be his mouth devouring her folds next, even if he had to fight for the pleasure. He wanted to see what she liked. It would have been better to watch her play with herself, but this would do. **** As Colby licked through the dew soaking her swollen petals, three sets of eyes watched, two with avid hunger, the other with passionblind amber burning hotter as he set her world aflame. He smiled as he flicked his tongue over her clit. He would use every trick in his repertoire to ensure she remembered her first. He wanted her begging for more, because now that he’d had a taste, he was addicted. Devouring her pussy had just become his drug of choice. **** Ty saw Colby bring his hands into play and had to hold back a pang of envy. He could imagine it. The slick heat of her molten core, the tight clasp of toned flesh. Sliding and slipping in the syrupy essence. Later, he promised himself, later when she didn’t need him to hold her. She stirred restlessly as Colby stroked and teased, circled and rubbed. Her hands convulsed, looking for something to hold on to. One seized Zach’s wrist, gripping him with desperate strength. And the other made Ty catch his breath as it fisted in the material of his jeans, right over his aching cock. He felt her hand stop, and then

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move, an exploratory caress. He knew the second she realized where her hand was. Her eyes flew open, darting to his, her already flushed cheeks reddened further. But not with embarrassment, no, that was arousal burning in her eyes. Watching him closely, she rubbed her hand the full length of the arch, until his balls lay under the heel of her hand. He swore he nearly fainted from the blood rush when her fingers feathered over his balls. He gave her the same promise he had given himself. “Later.” A smile curved the corner of her mouth a second before it opened wide and she screamed. **** Colby had noticed her attention was no longer firmly fixed on his ministrations. Holding her labia wide, he placed his lips over her clit, peeping out from beneath its swollen hood, and suckled. He had expected her to divert her attention back to where it was supposed to be and appease his wounded pride. What he did not expect was for her to clamp down like a vise on the two fingers he had painstakingly worked inside her tight sheath and scream the house down. He had never had a woman yield so readily to his mouth. The grip of her convulsing vagina blew him away. His fingers were squeezed in a fist-tight grip. He could only imagine the sweet agony it was going to be to feel her come around his cock. Neither he nor his brothers were small men in any way; she had some accommodating to do if they were ever going to get inside her tight well. His seed boiled in his balls at the very thought of feeling her wrap his throbbing member. He was now sure it would happen, some night, but not tonight. He felt her shudders die away and regretfully lifted his mouth from her slickened flesh. His fingers couldn’t resist curling inside her,

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bringing a fresh gasp before retreating. He had no qualms about licking her juices from his fingers. He saw her shock, and the heat that flared in her eyes. Emma was just ripe for corruption. She might be an angel now, but there were horns waiting to erupt. The right temptation and she would be joining the ranks of the fallen. Who needed wings when there were better ways to fly? **** Emma was thunderstruck. Though a climax unlike any she had ever known had just ripped through her, watching the youngest Whelan suck her arousal from his fingers clenched her womb anew. Indescribable hunger held her in sway. The need to taste. To give pleasure. To give rein to every wicked thought that had ever popped into her head. She rolled over, the bulge beneath her hand drawing her in, luring her with its promise of wicked indulgence. Her eyes met Ty’s as she reached for his belt buckle. He placed a big hand over hers. “You don’t have to do this, darlin’. This night is all for you. There will be plenty of other times for us, Em.” “I want to, Ty. I want to see you naked. I want to touch you.” He pushed her hands away gently and stood. She watched while he shucked his jeans with practiced ease, exposing the delectable ass she had been slavering over for years. And then he turned. Emma’s mouth fell open as a punch of lust took her low. He was fucking spectacular! The burly, heavily muscled length of his mouthwatering body was the perfect frame for the hefty cock defying gravity. She ached to wrap her hand around it, to hold the turgid flesh in her palm. To feel the throb as his blood pushed through the engorged veins. Any fear his size inspired was lost in her need. A bead of pre-cum glittered in the dimmed lighting. Her tongue flashed over her lips involuntarily.

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**** Her eyes burned him. He could feel their touch like lasers on his body. There was real intent in her gaze, a raw hunger. Ty slowly moved onto the bed, every move deliberately slow as he fought not to grab her hair and force her mouth to do what he so desperately needed. This needed to be her decision. But as he settled back among the pillows he knew that it was her own curiosity that would give him what he wanted. He wrapped his hand around his dick and worked it slowly. Once, twice, he stroked his flesh before Emma could stand no more. She left the arms of his younger brothers, eyes locked firmly on his groin. The touch of her hands felt like a satin dream after the rough skin of his own. She ran her hand up his length until the fluid leaking from the slit moistened her fingers. Three men watched with disbelief as she lifted a finger to her mouth. Watched as her tongue flicked over it experimentally before her eyes closed and she sucked it into her mouth. Ty clenched his entire body, holding back the need that consumed him while the other two clearly felt they were overdressed for the occasion. Clothing went flying as Em lowered her head towards his cock. **** She swiped her tongue across the wide head, collecting more of that salty decadence. It tasted even better direct from his silken skin. Hands stroked her hair back from her face while others smoothed over her back and the lush curves of her ass. Wordlessly she was asked to widen her stance, her thighs nudged further apart. A head pushed between, and a set of lips found her folds as she laid the first tentative, suckling kiss over the crown of Ty’s thick cock.

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Big hands gripped her ass cheeks, holding her still for the questing tongue. “Jesus Christ!” The muttered expletive’s husky growl gave up its owner’s identity. Zach had his head buried between her thighs. She licked and laved at the throbbing member, one hand holding the wide base while the other played with the ripe balls in the increasingly tight sac. Ty’s eyes rolled back as she finally took him into the hot cavern of her mouth. Colby murmured his encouragement as he held her hair back, allowing both of them to watch her learn this new pleasure. The thick flesh in her mouth held Emma enthralled. The heat, the unyielding hardness, the silkiness of the skin. She now knew exactly what was meant by the “velvet-wrapped steel” line she had typed numerous times. What she had missed completely was the power, the primal hunger, the violent drive of lust. Ty’s hand in her hair encouraged her into a rhythm that suckled him up and down. Em found her hips grinding to the same torrid pace as Zach’s tongue plunged into her entrance, riding the hot spear of his tongue as she rolled her hips shamelessly against his face. **** Zach was in heaven. She tasted like fresh summer rain on an ocean shore as he licked and poked at her pussy. He could feel the muscles squeeze at his tongue, but he knew there was a tighter grip to be had. He slid one hand down from where it grasped the ripe cheek of her ass. It didn’t take but two seconds to have his fingers coated in her thick juice. He wiped it all over the tight pucker of her anus before collecting more, repeating the process. He moved his mouth back over her swollen clit as he laid one long, slick finger atop her rosebud. He lapped in time with his finger as he pressed and retreated, pressed and retreated. Zach felt the tight

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ring relax and had to restrain a cry of triumph. He latched hold of her clit as his finger slipped inside her hot ass, the grip of her back passage unbelievably smooth and exquisitely tight. He felt her freeze at the sudden impalement, could almost see the shock spreading through her body. Then she moved, her body finding a harder rhythm as she worked Ty’s cock in her hot little mouth. Zach’s finger slid insidiously deeper with each circle of his tongue atop the bud of her desire as he introduced her to this dark new pleasure. He knew he was but seconds away from shooting his load all up his stomach, but he didn’t give a fuck. His finger was jammed to the webbing in the tightest ass he had ever known and the little vixen was pushing back for more. He sucked at her clit hard as he managed to work the tip of a second finger in beside the first, but that was as far as it went because her body bucked in orgasm, clamping down on his fingers and preventing further entry. He felt the hot splash of seed on his skin as the sensation became too much to bear. And he didn’t go alone if Ty’s bellow of completion was anything to go by. **** Emma swallowed the molten spume that erupted from Ty’s cock as it plunged to her throat. She was beyond sensibility as she felt her body buck and spasm on the fingers invading her ass, the pinch and burn driving her higher. No sooner did they withdraw and she felt the red-hot brand of a cock sliding in the wet crevice. Not trying to penetrate, just thrusting against her cleft. In a matter of seconds, hot sticky seed splashed on the small of her back. The lips and teeth that nipped at her nape needed no introduction. It was Colby’s seed that adorned her fevered skin. She collapsed with her head on Ty’s stomach, overcome by pleasure and the feel of so much skin against her. She felt a hot, moist

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towel wipe her back before a glass of water was placed in her slack grip. She had a few swallows before collapsing back against Ty, welcoming the arms that drew her up to once again lie on his chest. Zach and Colby twined around her any way they could, covering her in a blanket of warm, male skin. She felt Colby suckle at her breast and smiled lazily at the hand that slapped him up the back of the head as Zach made him behave. Ty’s heart beat right between her shoulder blades, filling some void that existed inside her. His deep voice whispered beside her ear. “Just lay there, darlin’. Lay just like that forever.” He reached the light switch with one hand and slapped it off. Only a slender glow emanated from under the bathroom door, adding its illumination to the starlight shining through the gauzy curtains. Emma closed her eyes and slipped into a contented sleep. **** Emma wasn’t sure what time it was when she woke, but the stars were still shining brightly. She slipped from between sleeping bodies to use the bathroom. When she came back out the light from the bathroom shone upon the bed. The sight of the three men lying in the bed took her breath away. They formed an arch; Ty lying across the top, Zach on the left and Colby sprawled on the right. It looked like a puzzle with a piece missing. A place she yearned to belong. The pang in her heart was a physical thing. How she ached to make that her place! But she wasn’t woman enough to take that place. Chance’s words came back to haunt her as she gathered her clothing, his cold, calculating voice telling her that she would never be enough woman for any man. She pulled her jeans on and dressed, minus one sock and her panties.

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She was reaching for the front door when she felt him behind her. “Don’t try to stop me, Ty. I need to go.” Tears thickened her voice, but she held them at bay. This man did not need to see her self-pity. She turned the handle and opened the heavy door. “Do you want me to take you home?” She had expected him to demand an explanation, or to urge her to stay. She was unprepared for the understanding in his deep voice. “No, it’s okay. I’ll see myself out.” She turned before he could see the first tear fall. Emma felt him move, heard the slight jingle as he picked up her keys off the table. She felt like an idiot. How was she planning on getting home without those? He placed them in her hand, closing her fist around them, his thumb running over her skin. His nakedness was secondary to his heat and nearness. “Can I call you tomorrow?” “Give me a day or two, please, Ty. I’m a little lost right now. I need some time to think.” “You take as long as you need, darlin’. We’ll be right here waiting for you.” She couldn’t see his eyes clearly. They were bottomless pools of onyx, but she felt the concern in them. The concern and the calm assurance. “You’ve got my heart, Em, be gentle with it.” **** He watched from the door as she backed away and let herself into the BMW. Only after the red taillights faded from view did he turn back inside, a hollow, empty feeling taking up residence in his chest. He turned down the other way from his bedroom. It was occupied by his younger brothers, and without Em, it wasn’t a place he wanted to be. He slipped into Zach’s bed. It was cold, but at least it was clean. Colby’s room should have had a biohazard sticker on the door. He slipped back into a restless sleep, haunted by whiskey eyes and silken kisses. Morning was a long time coming.

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Chapter 6 Emma drove through the night, tears staining her face. She distracted herself with thoughts of Kenneth and Lillian, weaving what-ifs and maybes in her distraught mind as she headed home. But everything kept falling apart. Lillian just wouldn’t play the game. She kept hiding, held back by her inhibitions and sense of propriety. Fuck! Emma laughed mockingly at her warped subconscious. She had proved tonight she had none of those! The problem was that she didn’t have the guts to stand up and claim what was hers. She was a woman. She could handle anything those men could dish out and look for more! Oh, who the hell was she trying to kid? She had nearly bolted several times. Only Ty’s tender strength had anchored her, that and the pleasure they heaped upon her. She couldn’t believe she had come with Zach’s fingers in her ass. She wasn’t an ass girl. It was definitely an exit only in her book. And yet the feel of him slipping inside her had been so darkly erotic it had blown her mind. What else did she not know about herself? Was she a closet submissive with a masochistic streak? Did she want to dress in black leather and chain Ty for her pleasure? She choked on the imagery that presented. Ty in chains? I don’t think so. Colby, maybe. She doubted there was anything that deviant wouldn’t try once. But Ty and Zach were dominant to the core. At least that thought dragged her from the despondence gripping her. She was smiling through the tears as she pulled into her gateway. She punched the button on the dash, but the gate didn’t open. She

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cursed as she opened the electric window, reaching for the push pad unit outside. She must need a new battery in the remote access unit. The figure that separated from the shadows moved swiftly, so swiftly she did not have time to react. She felt something press into her neck. At the same time an eerily average voice spoke, “I told you I would find you, Emmaline.” A blinding pain ripped through her, and then everything went dark. **** Emma came to slowly, her heart pounding as memory assaulted her. She willed herself to stillness, senses on alert. She lay on a hard surface, spread-eagled. She suspected she was bound. The light behind her eyelids was bright, but not unnaturally so. Her ears detected nothing beyond leaves moving in a gentle breeze and occasional bird song. She smelled antiseptic. She struggled to keep her breathing deep and even as she cracked one eyelid. Corrugated iron and rough-hewn timber. A shed, then, or a hunting shack. She glanced around. From her position she could detect no one in the vicinity. People made noise. The intake of breath, small movements, the telltale sounds of life. She had heard no noise for too long for anyone to be there with her right now. She risked lifting her head. It looked like someone’s fishing shack. A rough fireplace was topped with a heavy piece of lumber. On top sat empty bottles and a hurricane lamp. Lures were stuck into a cork board next to it. A cracked mirror hung on the other side. She was on a cheap wooden table. The only other furniture besides a couple of chairs was an empty bed frame awaiting someone’s bedroll. She glanced down at herself. A thin sheet covered her, but she knew she was naked under it. The smell of disinfectant

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came from her own body. She shuddered at the thought of being stripped and washed while unconscious. She pushed away any thought of more than that being done. The angle of sunlight was steep. It was close to midday. Trees a short distance from the dirty window were just discernable, no landmarks visible. Her ankles were bound with real cuffs. They bit into her flesh if she even thought about moving. Her hands she couldn’t see, but her fingertips provided answers. Steel manacles held each wrist. They were proper handcuffs. One end was around her wrist, the other around a table leg. She assumed her ankles were the same. Trying to think was holding panic at bay. Every problem had a solution. She rattled the table, but it was solid and wide enough that she couldn’t tip it. Her hands couldn’t pull through the manacles. They were simply too tight. She couldn’t get her wrists out of the cuffs, but perhaps there was a way to get the cuffs off the table? Questing fingertips felt around the table leg, attempting to identify how it was joined to the table. Her arm was bent at an unnatural angle as she found the two bolts that held the leg on. It was the cheap kind you saw in department store catalogues. You bought them in a box and assembled them at home. Something banged against the table as she attempted to find a better angle. Her charm bracelet. Feeling a little like a female MacGyver with even worse hair, Em managed to hook the edge of the bracelet on the corner of the table and pry it off so that it hung on the cuffs. She restrained a shout of victory. Agile fingers ran over the bracelet, seeking the medallion-shaped charm that might fit in the slot on top of the screw. It fit. She whispered a prayer of thanks to the god of shoddy workmanship as the bolts turned readily. They hadn’t been tightened in a long time. When she had them unscrewed she lay still, barely daring to move. She had worked out how to undo the legs but not what to do

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when she had. She was certain one good wrench of her wrist would free the cuff from the table, but it would also leave only three legs supporting the table. She could end up in a worse situation than she was already in if the table collapsed and put her in a position where she couldn’t free her remaining limbs. She only had one chance. She had to jerk her wrist free and roll so that her weight stabilized the table. She tried not to think too far ahead, taking one part at a time. Twice Emma counted to three before she had the courage to try it. The clatter the leg made as it hit the floor went ignored as she flung herself as far to the left as her ankle cuffs would allow. Her blood was pounding through her body, adrenaline surging as the table teetered before righting itself. Her breathing took a full minute to bring under control before she had steadied herself enough to risk transferring the bracelet to the other hand. If she dropped that, she was well and truly fucked. The second leg was a little harder. Cramps assaulted her body as she contorted to hold the table steady. She breathed through them, teeth gritting as she forced herself to endure. If she could get through this, she could get through anything. She promised herself that when she got out of here she was going to grab hold of those Whelans and fuck them six ways to Sunday. Anything they had planned for her couldn’t be worse than the charley horse that gripped her hip every time she even thought about moving. A maniacal smile twisted her lips as she strove to escape. Eventually the second screw loosened, only half a turn held the table upright. This time the table was going to come crashing down no matter what she did. All that she could hope for was to have enough strength and fortitude to be able to sit up and slide over the end of the table with the unforgiving steel on her ankles supporting her entire weight.

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She didn’t count this time, just took a deep breath and jerked. The jarring impact sent lances of pain streaking outward from her tortured ankles. The noise sounded like a gun blast in the small cabin. She grabbed hold of the edge of the table and levered herself up. The sheet fell to the side, exposing her nudity. Emma shuddered at the reminder of her predicament but resolutely pushed those concerns aside. She wished the remaining two legs would just snap and let her escape, but they held strong, keeping the end that her legs were attached to stubbornly elevated. Hand over hand she dragged herself upright, jaw tight as she watched the blood begin to run down her legs. Fingertips scrambled to curl over the end of the timbers. She knew she couldn’t lever herself over the end of the table. Her strength was sapped, and she couldn’t bend her legs. With a mighty heave she toppled the table to the side, crying in relief as she heard the snap of timber. She struck the ground with only one leg still attached to the piece of furniture. She rolled and slid her leg off it. The relief so great at no longer being tied, sobs shook her. She had to get out. She frantically rummaged around the shack but nothing useful remained, no weapons, no clothes, nothing. She tried the door but it was locked from the outside. Any thought of using the window was dashed when she heard that remarkably mundane voice outside the door. “Emmaline, you have been a bad, bad girl.” She snatched up a table leg and stood brandishing it. She might be stuck in here, but if he wanted in, it was going to be over her dead body. Enraged and naked she stood her ground, wishing the piece of slime would stick his head through the door. Knocking it off would be her pleasure. ****

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Ty awoke to the trilling of his phone and a healthy dose of disorientation. What the hell was he doing in Zach’s bed? His hazy mind put things into perspective as he stumbled for the phone. He cursed as he looked at the clock. It was after nine. He never slept in. “’Lo.” “It must have been one hell of a night if that is all you can manage, Ty Whelan.” Beth. Shit! “Mmm. What’s up, Beth?” “What’s up? Emma has a client waiting at the barn and she is still tucked in with you, that’s what is up.” Ty’s blood froze. “Em’s not here, Beth. She left at two this morning. I watched her get into the car myself.” “Oh, lord! What should I do, Ty?” “Give Calhoun a call. We’ll go for a drive. Think about anyone who might know where she is. Find her registration papers; I don’t know the plate on her car. Fuck!” He rubbed his face savagely. “You have my number. Call me and let me know what Calhoun says.” He dropped the phone back on the cradle and ran for his bedroom. He jerked clothes on even as he roused the sleeping bodies in his bed. Full alertness gripped them as soon as he told what had happened. Clothes were hastily donned as they scrambled into action. He saw Colby pick up something from beside the bed but didn’t take much notice. They joined him in the mad scramble for vehicles They searched every possible route between their house and her place and could find no sign. They met at her security gate. Ty was about to step out of his vehicle when he noticed the shoe prints on the dusty verge. He froze and gestured Colby back as he made to approach. There was no need for anyone to be on foot at this gate. The gates were remote operated. Zach was dialing Calhoun’s number as soon as Ty pointed them out. The local deputy was already en route and

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arrived in a matter of minutes. A local man born and bred, he took their concern seriously as he looked over the size-ten prints. “A BMW, you say? Nothing simpler. Get me the papers and I can get a trace done immediately. They all have a security tracking device in case of theft. Hopefully they will cooperate without an order. I am not supposed to do this unless the owner reports it stolen.” Ty fixed him with a cold stare. “I’ll get it, guys, don’t worry about that.” Beth called with the details. Fifteen endless minutes later, Andy Calhoun was finishing, saying, “thank you,” to a very helpful BMW rep. God knew that if the woman had seen the owner of that whiskeysmooth voice she wouldn’t have been so helpful. Andy’s scars put the wind up anyone who didn’t know him. “It’s parked at the trailhead at Rocky Point.” The Whelans shared a worried glance. Wilderness peppered with numerous trails bordered the parking ground. She could be anywhere. How the fuck were they going to know what way she had gone? Colby bolted for his truck. “I’ll see you there!” He roared off. **** Andy opened the door to his four-by-four. “Get in, you two. We’ll get there quicker with the lights.” The last thing he wanted was to be on a road between three enraged Whelans and the man who held their woman. Andy called it in to the area command as he sped down the road. He knew abduction was beyond local capabilities. Backup was on its way. Running in stealth mode along the five-mile stretch of dirt track leading to the parking area, he could feel the tension building in the cab. Ty looked fit to burst while Zach muttered darkly. It was with no small relief that he pulled up near the coupe. “Don’t touch anything,” he warned them as they sprung from the vehicle before it came to rest.

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He watched them circle, reading the sign. They were all mountain boys. They had all hunted. He, too, saw the reason for the white-hot fury pinching their faces. The driver had gotten out and lifted a weight from the trunk before stepping onto the grass on the other side of the barriers the cars parked against. All sign effectively vanished in the short, thick mat of growth. **** They had spread out, quartering the area, when Colby pulled up in a cloud of dust. Ty watched, somewhat confused and a little concerned for Colby’s sanity as he jammed a bright flag in the ground not far from Emma’s car. He ran around to the other side of his truck and came out holding one very overweight basset hound and what looked like five miles of hopelessly tangled rope. He plunked the sad-eyed animal on the ground with little concern for its overburdened legs and fashioned a harness from the knotted line. He dropped a piece of fabric beside the flag. Ty was close enough to see that it was a pair of lavender panties. His heart skipped a beat. He would never have another disparaging thought about his youngest brother. Colb had acquired one of Mrs. Perkins’s champion tracking dogs. He knew Zach and Colby supplied her dog food, but he hadn’t known they were on close enough terms to borrow one of her prized dogs. Ty decided he didn’t want to know how Colby had acquired it. The old biddy probably wasn’t aware the dog was missing yet. The dog snuffled eagerly at the lavender silk before casting toward the car. All three brothers groaned when the basset did a leisurely inspection of all four tires before lifting an arthritic leg and pissing on the one that took his fancy. “Christ, Colb, all those fucking dogs and you pick the only one not trained to track?” Zach vented his frustration.

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“Relax, bud. It’s Fred. This boy’s won more titles that you’ve had hot breakfasts.” “How long ago? He looks like he’s a hundred and five.” Zach was still not convinced as the dog waddled about unhurriedly. Even Colby even began to lose hope, his shoulders sagging. Suddenly Fred let out a loud bugle and headed out. Colby let him have plenty of line as he cast frantically about. Then, nose to the ground, he took the trail leading toward Moon Lake. Four men hurried behind the aged basset as he took the scent. For the first time since Beth’s call that morning, Ty dared to hope. **** “I thought you were going to learn your lesson last night, bitch. Those Whelans should have tied you up and fucked you like they do to the tramps in that little club of theirs. “I’ve watched them. They like sliding their big dicks into tight asses, splitting them wide, but they left you alone. What was all that tender shit? You were supposed to find out what is really like to have a real man.” Emma’s breath caught in her throat. He had been watching them last night? Her skin crawled at the thought of this perverted creep being privy to the most erotic experience of her life. Rage swiftly followed. “Listen, you sick fuck! You had better start running, because wherever you go, one of them will find you. And if you come in here, I will kill you. I will beat you until you are a pile of dog food at my feet.” Stark savagery flowed through her veins. Adrenaline had kicked her fight or flight response into overdrive. There was nowhere to run, her back was to the wall, but by God she would fight! “Found your backbone, have you, little girl? Never mind, it will just make it so much more rewarding to break you. There is no one

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around to hear your grandstanding, Emmaline. That table leg won’t protect you forever.” Emma froze. How did he know what she held in her hands? Her eyes darted around. There, on the exposed beam above the door. A little box sat, black eye winking sinisterly. Emma’s pert little nose flared and her lip curled in disgust. She made sure the last thing her assailant saw was a feral gleam in her eye just before the broken table leg smashed into the lens. “Temper, temper! That isn’t playing nice, Emmaline. I have gone to all the trouble of washing them from your body for you. You clearly didn’t like what they offered you, running off in the middle of the night like that, so I cleansed it from you. “I want a clean slate when I start on you. That useless cretin Colby left a mark on the back of your neck, but your hair should cover that. You may have dismantled my table, Emmaline, but you will look just as sweet hanging from the rafters. In fact I think I would like that better. I can turn you to face that cracked mirror as I stick my dick in you. I will watch your face as I plant it straight up that untouched little ass. You’ll scream for me, Emmaline, scream twice as loud as you did last night.” “Come in here, asshole, and try! I’ll cut your dick off and shove it down your throat.” Emma swung the heavy piece of timber at the door, delighting in the satisfying crunch as the door timbers cracked. Again and again she hit it. She stopped to get another leg when the first finally gave up the ghost but got straight back into it, curses flying, telling the madman exactly what she was going to do to him. She didn’t hear the distant bugle, but her stalker did. **** Andy followed the three men and the hound. The trail led straight toward Moon Lake, a place dotted with fishing shacks and camping grounds.

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Once Fred stopped, the trail fouled for some reason. With hearts in their throats they watched as he quartered. He sniffed at some ashes from a recent fire. Back and forth he worked the area, but that unbelievably sensitive nose found the scent and they were off once more. Faster and faster the aging dog followed the trail, the men running to keep up. A fishing shack tucked into a thicket of Douglas fir became his obvious target. Male voices swore savagely. The men streaked ahead as they could hear the sounds of violence within. Andy managed to calm them before they reached the shack. He drew his gun and indicated that he would circle around to check the building. He did so quickly, moving on silent feet. A quick glance in the window had him turning away. The Whelans could deal with the traumatized and very naked woman in there. The lowlife that put her there had to be around somewhere. Weapon at the ready, he faced outward. He yelled for Ty to get in there and settle her down. A motorboat starting up on the lake had him swearing a blue streak as he ran in that direction. Andy spoke into his collar mic as he sprinted for the lake. **** Ty drew back the bolt on the door warily. Emma’s exhausted voice was spitting heated threats within and something heavy hit the damaged door every now and again. He could hear her ragged breaths. He signaled Zach and Colby back as he thrust the door open, his heart braced for anything. The untamed, wild-eyed creature within shocked him to the core. Gloriously naked, Emma snarled and charged, the thick lump of timber she wielded arcing with deadly intent toward his head. Ty twisted aside and caught her wrists, the weapon striking him a glancing blow on his heavily muscled shoulder before he shook it

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from her grasp. Inhuman sounds ripped from her throat as she fought and twisted in his hold. Ty jerked her to him, smothering her in his embrace. “Shh, I got you, Em. No one’s going to hurt you, darlin’. It’s me, darlin’. Ty’s got you.” He turned toward his brothers, pain in his eyes as Emma drew in one choked breath after another, weeping in relief as she realized who held her. Zach and Colby moved in on each side, adding their voices and soothing hands. Tears streaked down her cheeks, absorbed by Ty’s shirt. He felt like crying, too, when he saw the cuffs that still encircled her wrist and ankles. Her feet were coated with blood. Colby shrugged out of the shirt he wore and put it around her naked shoulders. They could hear sirens drawing closer. Within minutes the drum of running feet heralded the arrival of the police. Zach talked to them, filling them in on the little they knew. He told them they didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of talking to Emma until she saw a doctor. The ranking officer told Zach an ambulance was on route even as he directed units into the scrub to join Calhoun’s search for Emma’s kidnapper. Two uniformed officers ushered them away from the door so they could begin a search of the shack. Ty still held Emma close, a blanket now wrapped around her as well as Colby’s shirt. A concernedlooking policewoman talked to them, letting them know Emma would need to have a full physical at the hospital and that she would be there with them every step of the way. Her name tag read Sgt. Davis, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out she was from a special victims unit. Ty handed Emma to Colby as his phone rang. She had yet to say a word. It was Emma’s number. Beth would be calling from her house. Emma stiffened as Ty extricated himself from her grip, but reassuring words settled her into Colby’s arms. “Em, honey, just let me hold you for a bit. Ty will be right back. None of us are going to leave you,” Colby crooned against her ear as he gathered her close.

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If Sergeant Davis was surprised by the way Emma readily entwined herself around another man, she gave no sign. Ty returned shortly, concern weighing heavily on his face. He spoke to both his brothers and Sergeant Davis, “That was Beth. She has been in contact with Emma’s personal advisor, Henry Sawtell. Apparently he has known her since she was a baby. Sawtell said she has had a stalker for years and that’s why she moved here. He is in contact with the police down here and he is sending everything to them. Was it him, Em?” Emma nodded against Colby’s chest. Ty felt his heart break at the hopelessness on Emma’s face. “We need to get her to hospital. How far away is that ambulance?” Sergeant Davis conferred with the mic clipped to her shoulder. “Any minute now. If you are up to carrying her, it will be quicker to meet them at the trailhead. A stretcher ride over this terrain wouldn’t be very comfortable.” Ty reached down and took Emma from his youngest brother’s arms. Cradling his precious burden, he strode out toward the car park, followed by two anxious Whelans, Sergeant Davis, and Fred the Basset. Only one of them could accompany Emma in the vehicle, so Ty pulled rank. He had no intentions of letting go of that woman again. Ever. He sat beside her stretcher as they sped toward the larger center of Sheridan. At the hospital they gave Emma a sedative before treating the lacerations on her ankles. A wave of animalistic rage swept through Ty when he saw the extent of the cuts and bruises. His muscles clenched with the need to hurt, tear, rend. He wanted to kill the man responsible for this with his bare hands, again and again, but the feel of Emma’s soft hand holding his so fiercely kept him anchored. Only when Emma fell into an exhausted but drugged sleep were they able to pry Ty’s hand from her grip. Sergeant Davis pulled Ty aside. She needed to collect some pretty personal details from him,

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and the doctor needed to carry out a pelvic exam to ascertain the extent of the abductor’s crimes. Sergeant Davis remained coolly professional as she recorded details of the sexual encounter the brothers had shared with Emma. Ty, on the other hand, was uncomfortable as hell as they discussed intensely private details. He held Emma’s trust sacred and felt as if he were betraying that trust as he answered the questions. Only that it was to help her made him answer. No, she shouldn’t have any semen in her vaginal or anal cavities. Yes, she may show signs of sexual activities in those areas. Yes, her mouth may have traces of semen in it. No, there should be no signs of trauma to her genitalia or breasts. On and on the intimate questions went. He was sitting silently with Zach and Colby as they waited for the doctor along with Michelle Davis. The policewoman had given Ty her first name after the intimate interview had passed. It was a distancing tool that had helped during the awkward questioning. The doctor called Michelle aside and gave her the preliminary results of his examination. He shot the three men waiting a curious look as he filled her in. The doctor was leaving it up to the policewoman to determine who should have the information. Rumors about Liberty Springs abounded. It was only natural that the doctor would feel uncomfortable discussing results with three men waiting for one woman and not one related to her. But Michelle had no such qualms. “Okay, this is against protocol. I am only supposed to disclose the information to family, but I think you all need to hear it. The bastard didn’t rape her in any way. He stunned her with a Taser set on a high enough setting to knock her out cold and leave second-degree burns on the base of her neck. We know he manacled her to the table. “That is one courageous woman to escape the way she did. The crime scene crew is unbelievably impressed. He has washed her with disinfectant, but that is all. The wounds on her ankles are consistent

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with the cuffs used upon her. I will need to talk to Emma when she wakes up, but the doctor said that shouldn’t be for an hour or two. “By the way, Deputy Calhoun said to let you know that Mrs. Perkins was very glad for the return of her lost dog. Personally I think the animal deserves a medal, but if keeping quiet keeps you out of trouble, I can live with that. “I will come back in a couple of hours and see if Emma is up to answering some questions. I know it appears callous in this situation, but we really need Emma to tell us what she remembers. The sooner we get this information, the sooner we can catch this bastard.” She nodded her leave. “Gentlemen.” The wait was interminable. Ty sat immobile, his eyes on the double swinging doors leading to emergency. Zach paced restlessly while Colby pulled threads out of the old sweater he had found to wear in his truck. If someone didn’t hurry up and say something soon, there was going to be nothing left of it but collar and cuffs. They were prevented from having to look at Colby’s bare chest by a nurse slipping into the waiting room. All three of them knew her. “Marley!” Zach nearly hugged her as she approached. Marley Richards was a Liberty Springs girl who drove the forty minute trip to Sheridan for each shift. “Hey, guys.” Her voice was as soft as her eyes as she took in the concern on each face. “Emma is starting to stir. I think it would be best if you were there. I’ll sneak all of you in there for a couple of minutes, but don’t be surprised if the doctor kicks you back out. He’s an old stick, but he is a damn good doctor.” Marley held the door back so they could slip through. Ty could have kissed her with gratitude if he hadn’t been so eager to see Emma. **** Emma woke slowly, things a little hazy as she took in the white ceiling and green curtains pulled around her. She had a moment’s

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panic as the last time she had woken came back, but lucidity asserted itself. She felt a wave of shame that she had broken down when Ty had grabbed her. Felt pathetic that she had shown such weakness. The soft rumble of male voices behind the curtain caught her attention. She had two goes at trying to talk. Her mouth was dry and felt as if it had been packed with cotton. She looked around, spying a pitcher of water on a table near her head. She was reaching for it when the curtain slid back. “She’s awake!” Colby’s relieved but excited voice was one of the best sounds she had ever heard. She vaguely noticed the nurse pushing through and checking her vitals, but her eyes were all for the men. Zach was quick to claim the hand that the nurse let go of while Colby brought the other to his mouth, laying a chaste kiss against her palm as he held the gauzewrapped appendage with both hands. Ty stood his ground, his body held tight. Emma fought against the urge to rise from the bed and let him hold her in his arms, to shelter her with his body from the world. His gray eyes held hers as the doctor bustled in and cleared the room, pain, tenderness, and promise all there for her to see. He would only leave when Emma nodded her assent. The next couple of hours were a whirlwind. After getting the allclear from the doctor, Michelle Davis questioned her on every aspect, going over things again and again to make sure they got every detail. She was concerned when Sergeant Davis stepped out briefly when she told of the abductor’s assertion that he had been watching the Whelans at the club and at home as well as her, but the interview continued on. Emma was exhausted by the time they finished. Exhausted and ready to go home. Ty was talking to a uniformed deputy when Nurse Richards escorted her out. Emma had signed out against the recommendation of the doctor, though he too had asserted that all she needed physically was rest.

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Emotionally, she was going to need more than that. Marley Richards had given her a pair of uniform pants to wear home. They were snug through the hips and needed to be rolled up at the bottom, but they covered her. She still wore Colby’s shirt. Ty went silent as she walked toward him, the officer stepping back a little. Ty’s face was solemn as he offered his hand. Em swallowed before reaching out to take it, feeling his big hand engulf hers as he drew her beside him. “Em, this is Andy Calhoun. He’s the Liberty Springs deputy. They have a tech unit at your house now doing a sweep for surveillance bugs. They found two in the Kat. That’s how he knew what was going on there. Our place is clean. He must have been watching from the hill behind the house when the drapes were open.” “My house?” “I’m sorry, Ms. Duncan, but it is just not safe for you to go back there right now.” Andy’s brown eyes were apologetic as he informed her that her house was no longer her safe haven. “So far they have found a lot of tampering with your security systems. Until that is rectified, do you have somewhere safe to stay?” Emma liked the way he ignored the large man standing beside her as he asked that question. Ty, however, was oblivious, or more likely didn’t give a shit. “Emma will be at our house until her place is secure again, however long it takes.” Gray eyes bored into hers, daring her to disagree. “I need some things from home. I don’t even have any clothes, Ty.” “Call Beth. She can meet you at our place with whatever you need.” ****

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Andy suppressed a smile as he watched his longtime friend take charge. How the mighty had fallen! Ty deserved some happiness. He hoped they could catch this asshole and give that happiness to Ty. If anyone deserved the love and respect of that man, she was standing right beside him. Andy had seen the footage that creep had recorded of her escape. She was one gutsy woman. He watched Zach and Colby walk in, their attention absorbed by the small woman beside their older brother. Perhaps she was gutsy enough for all of them. He resolutely ignored the tall, slender nurse with gold rings and picket fences in her eyes who stood watching at the door. **** Emma travelled back to Liberty Springs in the backseat of Colby’s pickup. She was surprised when Ty took shotgun, leaving Zach in the back with her. She used one of their phones to call Beth. The older woman had been relieved to hear from her and took down a list of things she would need. Beth assured her that the police were treating her home with respect, but it was going to take a month to clean up after them. She could feel Zach’s eyes on her the whole time. She handed the phone back over silently, fatigue clear in her eyes. “Scoot over here, Em, and have a rest. We still have half an hour before we get home.” She wanted to demur, wanted to show them that she was strong, but to be honest she couldn’t think of anything she wanted more than a pair of strong arms to hold her. She slid over, slipping the center lap belt on before tucking under the arm Zach raised. Snuggling in against his chest, she brought her bandaged feet up to lay along the wide seat. The touch of Ty’s gaze brought her eyes up to his. They were full of tenderness at the sight of her held in his brother’s arms until they rested on her damaged ankles. The pinch of fury took her by surprise.

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She hadn’t known Ty to exhibit his feelings before, hadn’t known such strong emotion lurked under his easygoing, calm façade. Gray eyes returned to hers, and he had his face back under control, tranquil and tender. He gave her a searching look before turning forward once more, looking out into the darkness beyond the windshield. Em nestled in closer against Zach and drifted off to sleep with the comfort of Zach’s heart beating under her ear. Awakening was much gentler this time, the car coming to rest rousing her softly. Storm-kissed eyes shone down upon her in the glow of the interior light. She must have slid to Zach’s lap as they travelled, and the warm weight of his hand rested against her side. He looked tired, emotionally wrung out. Emma nearly smiled when she thought of how bad she must look. She dreaded seeing a mirror. Beth met them at the door and bustled her inside, sending the men to get Emma’s things out of her car. Beth ran her a bath. While Emma would have preferred a shower, the bandages were supposed to stay in place for twenty-four hours. She needed to get the smell of disinfectant off her, to wash the madman’s touch from her body. With great relief she slid into the embrace of the hot water, the aromatic bath salts leaching the ache from protesting muscles. The exotic scent of vanilla and cherry blossom drifted around her as Beth told her what the police had uncovered so far. It made her blood run cold that her life had been under such intimate scrutiny by the lunatic who had been stalking her. She shuddered to think that he could have walked right into her house at any time. The security system had been compromised beyond belief. Beth had already booked an elite security firm to overhaul the system the moment the police finished processing the property. When the water cooled and Emma was in real danger of being mistaken for a prune, Beth helped to dry her and get her dressed in a pair of flannel pajamas. While they weren’t high in the fashion stakes, the pink tartan ones were the most comfortable she had.

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It was midnight before Beth left. She made sure Emma ate some of the casserole she had brought and was tucked in to bed with an oversized teddy bear in the shape of Colby lying beside her on top of the covers. **** Andy dropped in to check that everything was all right and assure them that regular patrols would be passing over the area, paying particular attention to the hill where the culprit had watched from last night. All drapes were firmly pulled. He told Ty and Zach details he hadn’t been able to reveal earlier and showed them a clandestine copy of the recording of her escape. The bastard had set up a movement-activated camera so that he would be aware of the moment she woke. The device he had used to monitor her had recording capabilities as well as real time feed to a remote mobile viewer, most likely in the form of an iPhone. The sophistication of the equipment was beyond local capabilities and a special unit had been sent over from Denver. Interstate cooperation at its best. Ty stood up when the stark recording finished, hearing his own voice comforting Emma. Even after Em had smashed the lens, the audio had continued to be recorded. “Colb needs to see this.” He turned and headed for the bedroom before anyone saw the tears threatening to spill. Such fire and determination! Her strength and fortitude had pared him to the bone. She was a special woman to be protected at all cost, cosseted, loved. The explicit acts they had wanted to do with her had been tarnished forever by one man’s insanity. He couldn’t imagine inflicting anything upon her that would remind her of the threats the sick bastard had taunted her with. He motioned Colby out and slipped under the covers, needing to feel her in his arms. He spooned along her back, the curve of her ass tucking in neatly to his groin, her head under his chin. She had

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wiggled once, striving to get even closer in her sleep, and then relaxed against him, soft and warm. A single tear escaped his control, rolling down his temple to mark the pillow with its sorrow. He knew they should be letting her go, that she deserved more than they could ever offer her. They were hard men with hard desires, and after the mockery that asshole had made of their proclivities, he knew Emma could never accept them that way, nor would they ask her to. But as much as he knew they should set her free, he just couldn’t imagine his future without her being the center of it. He held her tight and whispered a plea, his heart in every broken word, that this was where she would always belong, safe in his arms.

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Chapter 7 The seductive aroma of freshly brewed coffee met Emma’s nose the next morning. She lifted her head, wincing as she stretched, sore muscles protesting violently. She opened her eyes to Zach’s gray eyes, tinted with silver. “Morning, Em. How did you sleep?” “Mmm, good.” She snuggled further under the blankets before realizing she was actually tucking herself tighter against a large body behind her. A big hand appeared as an arm wrapped around her, one with heavy calluses. Ty. “I can smell coffee.” Zach grinned. “Colby’s making it.” “Why Colby?” “Because we pulled rank.” The deep voice rumbled against her back as Ty spoke, his meaty chest pressed against her. Emma’s eyes closed at the sensation of having it vibrate straight through her. She gave a small shiver. Ty misinterpreted it, pulling the quilt up over her tighter. She saw Zach’s mouth twitch and knew he hadn’t made the same mistake. He kissed her forehead before getting up. “I’ll get you some Tylenol.” “I don’t think I need any.” “You haven’t moved yet.” Nor did she have any plans to. But as comfortable as she was, the bathroom beckoned. Emma slid out of Ty’s arms. He relinquished his hold reluctantly. She discovered Zach was right. She ached all over. Emma found herself waited on hand and foot. She was escorted to the lounge where coffee and pills awaited. Zach cooked her fluffy scrambled eggs for breakfast. Ty went out to her place to feed and

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check on her animals while Colby ran leads for her laptop. Working would take her mind off things. But she found she was more tired than anything else. She slept most of the day away and then curled up with Colby and slept all night. She woke up once more surrounded by Ty’s warmth. Emma wasn’t half as stiff the next day, and while Ty went out to take care of her animals, she found she could work. She was glad the lounge was against the wall because both brothers seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get a look at what she was typing. As she had just got up to Kenneth and Lillian’s first erotic encounter beyond a kiss, their hovering presence wasn’t conducive to fluid writing. “Look, you two! I cannot work with the pair of you hovering around trying to look over my shoulder. Haven’t you got something better to do?” The smile that stretched Colby’s handsome face should have warned her that whatever it was wouldn’t be to her liking. “Sure, we have. Zach, where did you put that latest pile of books? We can do some more research.” “They’re in my room. I’ll go get them.” Emma’s brow was creased in a puzzled frown as Colby continued to grin at her. “Research?” “Yeah, we have been conducting a little study for a while now. I think we are getting close to reaching a conclusion.” Her confusion was magnified as Zach dumped a pile of books on the table. They were romance novels. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Eliza’s Folly there amongst them. It was the latest release in her Lords of Dunbury series. “And what is the purpose of this little study?” Her voice was arch. She had a fair idea what they were up to. “To find out who you write as, of course.” Colby grinned as he plucked one from the top of the pile, thankfully not hers. “And what does Ty think of your juvenile little research project?”

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Zach laughed. “Hell, Ty started it. He has been trying to find out what name you write under since he found out that you wrote. He just roped us in to help. Not that we aren’t just as curious.” “We even think we have it narrowed down to seven authors. This is the latest release from each, so we will just be sitting here searching for clues while you go on creating another one for us to read.” **** Ty came back before lunch, amused to see his brothers flicking through the latest arrivals in their little project. He was not amused at the information Andy had passed on. They had been able to find no trace of Emma’s abductor. A stolen motorboat had been found abandoned at the far side of the lake, and tire tracks had been found at a deserted campsite nearby. The tread patterns had narrowed it down to a late-model four-by-four, but that was as far as it had gone. He sat down on the lounge after lunch with Em. Unlike his brothers, he showed no interest in her computer screen. Instead he reached out for a book from the remaining ones scattered on the table. He felt Em’s thigh tense where his rested against it. He moved his hand left and it relaxed marginally, but when he went right the tension felt like steel. Hiding a grin, he picked up the latest offering from Emmaline Eaglemore. His brothers had dismissed the author as too obvious, but he hadn’t been convinced. The giveaway for him was the characterization and individuality of the horses in her books. They were written by someone who knew horseflesh, not someone spouting researched material and hackneyed lines. That and “Aunt Clara,” whose wicked, no-nonsense approach to life bore an uncanny resemblance to Beth. He settled in for a read, the discomfort of the woman beside him bringing a rare smile to his lips. Her resilience amazed him. Only two

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days ago she had been fighting for her freedom. Today she was getting all squirmy because he was reading one of her books, unless he was very much mistaken. Twenty pages later he had no doubts. The little minx had put him in there. He was the one trying not to squirm as he read of “Eliza” watching his burnished muscles writhe and ripple as red molten iron bent to his indomitable will as her lithe body tightened with unrequited need, a flush of color burgeoning on her ivory cheeks as her womanhood wept at the wickedness of her inappropriate thoughts. Fuck! He read on, dumbfounded. Never again would he light up the gas for Em without thinking about what was going through that pretty little head of hers. Christ, that woman had a way with words! He shifted uncomfortably, giving the organ lengthening behind his fly room to grow. He glanced up, seeing the scarlet staining Emma’s cheeks. She knew damn well where he was up to. “Hey, Colb?” The instant tension that gripped her made him restrain a smile. His younger brother lifted his head from the book he was reading. “Can you duck over to Beth’s? She said she would have something for dinner ready this afternoon. The old girl is stressing out big time about us cooking for Emma.” He hoped Colby didn’t pick up on the slightly husky timbre that had crept into his voice. “But Roger was just about to flip up the skirts of this gypsy girl,” Colb complained, holding up the book he was reading. It was by a more risqué author who only just scraped into mainstream romance by the skin of her teeth. She had held Colby’s vote as Emma’s alter ego, but Ty felt that was mostly wishful thinking on his brother’s behalf. “It will still be there when you get back,” he assured him with a grin. Colby left reluctantly, dropping a kiss on Emma’s brow as he passed. Zach had gone to close up the feed store for the kid who had opened for them today. Ty meant to make the most of that time.

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He turned to face her, waiting for her to look up. By the color infusing her cheeks, she could feel his gaze. Finally she did, her chin lifting high, defiant despite the delightful blush. “Tristan the blacksmith, huh?” A wide grin split his face. “I have no idea what I was thinking. It seemed like a good idea at the time,” she said ruefully. “I hope you don’t mind too much.” “Mind? I’m hard as a fucking rock, Em. You’re killing me.” He let her see every ounce of hunger in his eyes. “I feel like an animal. You have gone through hell and all I want to do is throw you down on that rug and lick every inch of your body.” **** Lust hit Emma like a freight train at his heated declaration, slamming into her, ripping the breath from her lungs and pooling deep in her loins. She wanted nothing more than to let him fulfill every wicked thought she had ever had. To feel that promised tongue do whatever he so desired. She looked into charcoal eyes as she tried to think. That was the problem. She didn’t need to think, she needed to forget, needed to lose herself for a little while. She lifted her arched brows. “Do I have to beg?” A low growl came from deep in Ty’s throat as he picked her up. He held her tight against him as he sunk to his knees on the thick rug. She could feel the strength of his arousal. “You’re sure, darlin’? I don’t want you calling foul later.” “Make me forget, Ty, just for a little while.” He claimed her lips and made her mouth his own, unleashing the full, devastating potential of his mouth. His tongue swept and danced, diabolical as it mimicked what she wanted him to do so badly to the folds mashing against the rigid stalk of his cock. He dragged his lips along her jaw, stubble rasping sexily against her delicate skin. Em’s head fell back as his mouth found her throat,

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licking and nipping lightly at the fragile skin as he moved ever lower. He pressed a tender kiss next to the plaster covering her burns. With dexterity belying its size, one hand undid the buttons that held her pajamas closed, his mouth following the sensitive path they unveiled. Between her breasts he laid a fiery trail of kisses, one strong arm splayed beneath her back, holding her secure as she arched back, lost to his touch. His tongue dipped into her navel as the last button gave way to the mastery of his hand. He lifted his head, dark sensuality blazing forth from onyx pools. Beneath hooded eyes, Em watched the reverence with which he bared her breasts, spreading her top wide from where it had caught on pebbled nipples. Possessive heat bathed her as he viewed the bounty he had revealed. His mouth descended, laying an open-mouthed kiss on the rise of each dusky-tipped mound. Then, like a man starving, he took possession of her breasts, and her mind was lost. Delicious suction engulfed one nipple, hot and wet. A roughened hand made the other its own, grazing a callused thumb over the erect nub before rolling it exquisitely between thumb and forefinger. Emma could only soak up the pleasure. She tangled one hand in his short hair, encouraging the sweet, torturous suction of his mouth. Her hips writhed shamelessly, proof of her arousal bathing the material between their bodies. **** With a deep draw Ty released her breast. Ignoring the imperious tugging on his hair to resume, he swapped sides, treating its twin to his oral ministrations. Her gasp turned into a moan, sending more of his blood to try and fit into his overburdened cock. His whole purpose became trying to drive more of the sexy little sounds out of her. Deeper and deeper he

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pulled her under his spell, but her abandoned responses became too much. He wanted more. Needed more. He came up, chest heaving as he battled for air, his eyes darkly intense as he came over her, lowering her to the floor. He rose up, kneeling between her knees, looming over her with brooding sensuality. With deliberate intent, he pulled the drawstring undone that secured her pants and stripped them off. One hand trapped her legs straight up in the air as he tossed her pants away. He caressed the length of both legs, avoiding her bandaged ankles. With a demon’s smile he separated them, his eyes glued to the junction of her thighs. She was shaved but for a neat triangle at her apex. Plump petals pouted, engorged with desire. His finger traced her folds, slipping easily through the rich, warm welcome her body had laid out. She cried out as he skated over her clit. Moaned deep in her throat when he circled her entrance. And called his name so sweetly when he slid his finger into the snug grip of her cunt. Her siren’s call beckoned him. He lowered his head, cupping her buttocks in two hands as he tasted her for the first time. A flick to taste. A long lick to savor. A deep, suckling kiss to feast. He devoured her with consummate skill. Driving her higher and higher but not allowing her to fly. He licked, sucked, and gently nipped at her glistening pussy and thrust his tongue deep inside her. Her body provided more and more nectar for him to feast upon. He made himself comfortable, sprawling on the floor, propping up on his elbows. He could have savored her forever. “Ty! Please let me come. I need to so bad, I can’t hold on any longer.” Her breathless voice beseeched him, and he found he was unable to deny her anything. He slipped his thick finger high inside her, pressing it into her spongy front wall, feeling the rapid thump of a hidden pulse beneath his finger. He grazed her sensitized clit ever so gently with his teeth and then sucked, sucked sweet and long as he felt her gather, prepare

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to fly. He gripped the cheek of her ass tighter and then licked the bud he held captive in his mouth. Emma flew. Screaming soundlessly, she arched, mindlessly pushing toward him for more pressure. He obliged, rubbing deep inside her as he extended her pleasure. She ended on a throaty moan. That proved to be one stimulus too much for Ty’s tortured cock. He could only twitch, grinding against the hardwood floor as he spilled his seed. He knew he should have been embarrassed about coming in his jeans like a green kid, but with the feel of her wet body on his fingers and the afterglow of orgasm, however tarnished, riding him, he couldn’t do anything but lay his head on her stomach and smile. **** Emma had her fingers entangled in his hair as she lay back on the thick rug, fine silky hair that her fingers could not get enough of touching. She could feel the corner of his mouth curl against the soft skin of her stomach. She used her grip to tilt his head so that she could see his face. The look of chagrined satisfaction made her smile. She had thought he was laying a little still for a man who hadn’t yet found release. “Hmm, what happened? Did that legendary Whelan control slip a little?” she couldn’t help but tease. “Slip? Darlin’, you ripped it to shreds,” he assured her, bringing a satisfied smile to her lips. He laid a kiss on her stomach as he lurched upright, extending his hand to help her up. “You need to get some clothes on before Colby drops our dinner all over the floor when he walks in that door, and I need a shower.” She followed his gaze to where a dark stain spread across his jeans. “Impressive.” “I’ll say. Most of it’s yours.” He stamped a hard kiss on her lips and headed for the shower.

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**** Emma had just done up the last button and sat down when Zach walked back in. His nostrils flared the moment he came through the door, scenting like a predator on the prowl. His eyebrows raised, but he didn’t mention anything, even when Emma turned bright red. From the heat of her face, she knew he could damn well see it. “Where’s Colb?” He picked up the book he had been flicking through earlier. “He went to Beth’s to pick up dinner.” “And Ty?” She could see his amusement at her discomfort, the mockingly sardonic curl of mobile lips. “In the shower.” That so wasn’t a squeak in her voice. “He doesn’t usually shower in the middle of the afternoon.” “He spilled something.” Not entirely incorrect. Colby chose that moment to clatter back in. They heard him open the oven, followed by a bang and a curse. He came in rubbing his head. Emma nearly died of shame when he froze, nose flaring in exactly the same way Zach’s had earlier. Accusing eyes flew strait to his brother. “Hey, it wasn’t me.” Zach’s hands went out innocently. “Ty is in the shower. Apparently he spilled something.” Emma felt like crawling under the lounge and dying of shame. The smell of sex rode the air like a silken fog. “Is that what they’re calling it now?” Colb plucked up his book and sprawled out on the rug. Emma caught her breath as he stretched out right where she had come beneath his brother’s tongue only minutes before. She saw him breath deep before his eyes shut with pleasure. Ty walked back in running a towel over his head. Sweats had replaced his jeans. “Hey, Ty, we’ll have to ask Beth what she put on this rug last time she cleaned it. It smells good enough to roll around in.”

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Ty flicked Colby behind the ear with his towel as he came past to sit next to Emma, ignoring the leading comment. She had put the laptop away. Concentration was in short supply at the moment. Emma went to have a shower herself, retreating from their attention. She was glad to take off her bandages. The wounds were healing rapidly. When she came back, Ty raised his arm and she gladly snuggled down against him. “Why don’t you stick a movie on, Colb? It’ll fill in some time before dinner.” He saw the way the blue eyes lit up. “Not one of your movies, dumbass. One Em would enjoy watching.” “That limits it,” Colby complained, heading for the DVD cabinet beside the widescreen. “Too violent, too much swearing, too bloodthirsty…” One by one he dismissed the movies. “I don’t mind a bit of gratuitous violence or high-speed chases,” she assured him. “Gone in Sixty Seconds it is.” He popped it in the machine and slid onto the lounge on the other side of Em, ignoring the look Ty sent him when he scooped her legs up to lay across his lap. Em just shook her head and burrowed closer to Ty, wriggling until she was comfortable. She heard Colby catch his breath and realized her foot was buried in his crotch. And that he was not unhappy about the situation. Fuck him. He could get over it or move it. Em was surprised when one of his hands came to rest on her thigh but made no further move. He seemed quite happy to sit there and hold her despite the hard-on she could feel against the arch of her foot. She turned her attention back to Nicolas Cage, until she drifted off to sleep fifteen minutes later. Comfortable, secure, and warm.

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Chapter 8 Em woke to a nightmare of being bound, pinned, and unable to escape. She thrashed wildly. The rumble of soothing male voices brought her to full alertness. She looked into Ty’s gray eyes, full of concern. “It’s okay, darlin’, I got you. Just a dream, it can’t hurt you.” He had his hands high, not wanting her to feel any more trapped than she had obviously been in that dream. She looked about, seeing Zach hovering anxiously by the coffee table and Colby, wild eyed and tense, at the other end of the lounge. A tear escaped, its descent down her cheek tracked by three sets of eyes. “Hey, where’s that strong girl? Where’s the little wildcat that fought with everything she had?” Zach stepped closer and tipped her chin up. “We saw the footage of it, honey. We know how strong you are, how determined. Don’t let this bastard take up space in your head. He doesn’t deserve it. Don’t give him what he wants. You’re the woman who was going to rip his dick off and shove it down his throat. Remember that. You’re no one’s victim, Em.” She sucked in a breath at the thought of them seeing her helpless and bound. “I wish you had never seen it,” she whispered. “Why? You were brave. You freed yourself and stood your ground. You protected yourself. You were courageous when grown men would have broken down and cried. If I didn’t love you before, I sure as hell did after seeing that.” Zach’s heart was in his eyes, lightning flashing as he persuaded her of the truth. “You have nothing to be ashamed of and everything to be proud of, Em.” He sunk to his knees before her, verity shining in his gaze. When he reached for her,

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she went willingly, burying her face into the warm musk of his neck. “You are ours now, baby. We won’t let anything happen to you.” **** Ty watched the exchange with his heart in his mouth. He was worried Zach’s declaration of love would drive her away. It was the only reason he had not said the words himself. But she relaxed into his brother’s arms, accepting his comfort, his love. He reached out and smoothed her hair over her shoulder, needing the contact, however tenuous. She turned to face him without losing touch with the warm skin of Zach’s neck. Her hand reached for him drawing him close. Her other hand reached for Colby. They huddled around the woman who had come to mean so much to them, drawn like moths to a flame. **** But it was she who soaked up the heat of their touch, the warmth of their hearts. They had seen her at her worst and they were still here, even protesting that she had not done anything to be ashamed of. A smile grew on Emma’s face as she recalled the promise she had made to herself on that table—when she got out of here she was going to grab hold of those Whelans and fuck them six ways to Sunday. Well, she wasn’t feeling quite that adventurous, but she needed them now. Needed to know them as a woman knows a man, to feel their strength inside her as well as all around her. To give solace with the haven of her body and feel succor in return. She raised her head, her lips seeking Zach’s. She kissed him slowly, her motions hesitant, but the intent behind them ironclad. She broke away and turned to Colby, surprising him as she kissed him, too, deeply, unhurriedly. When she turned to Ty, she felt the weight

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of his gaze, the hunger as well as the doubt as he tried to read if this was what she really wanted. “Don’t deny me, Ty. I want this. I truly do.” Her eyes conveyed the conviction of her words. “I can’t deny you anything, Em.” His lips met hers and her world tilted as he lifted her into his arms. She hardly noticed the movement as he strode purposely toward the bedroom, two shadows right behind. **** Ty laid her down on the oversized king in the master bedroom. He ripped the T-shirt off over his head, a wry smile at his lips as the delay cost him the privilege of undoing Emma’s buttons again. Zach and Colby fell over themselves in an effort to get to them first. Emma stopped them with a word and took matters into her own hands, arching up as she peeled it off over her head. The looks on their faces would have been comical if he hadn’t known the same sense of awe was on his own. They fell upon her, hands and mouths heading straight for the creamy mounds she had revealed. Ty crawled around them to her head. He could afford to be magnanimous. He’d had those beauties all to himself a few hours earlier. He pushed the hair back from her face, loving the pleasure that infused her features. He watched her hands twine into the hair of his brothers. Fisting in Colby’s longer, fairer hair, scrabbling against the dark shortness of Zach’s. Ty leaned down and claimed her lips, sipping from them before licking into her mouth, tasting, exploring. Hot little sounds came from her throat as his brothers suckled her. He ate the sexy noises up, fuelling his rapidly growing erection. This time he would make her his, theirs.

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He would slide inside that tight little pussy if it took him all night. He had felt how snug she was earlier. He was going to be doing some teeth gritting there. With one last stinging kiss, he drew away enough to murmur against her lips, “I want to taste you again, darlin’. Do you want my tongue? Can I lap up that sweet juice again?” He took her groan of capitulation as tacit agreement. He shouldered Zach over gleefully as he stripped her pants and made room for himself between her silken thighs. He made no preliminary explorations with his hands this time. He ran his tongue straight through her slick folds, delighting in the involuntary buck her body gave. He chuckled wickedly and began his assault, driving her right to the edge and keeping her there. She was lifting frantically into his mouth, begging for a harder touch, riding the finger he had slid inside her. Ty held back. He was going to have enough trouble getting inside her as it was without tightening her further with orgasm. That could wait for when he was balls deep inside her. She could clench around his swollen flesh as much as she liked then, for as long as he was able to take it. He worked another finger in beside the first, intent on stretching her, loosening her. If he couldn’t turn three thick fingers inside her, there was no way his cock would fit. She groaned and rocked against him as he shifted the twin digits inside her, trying to make room for a third. “Oh, God! Fuck me, please, Ty, I need you inside me.” Ty swiped his tongue over her again before lifting his head. “You need to take another finger before you even think about taking my dick, darlin’,” he warned her, his voice thick with the taint of lust. Colby lifted his head from her breast and flicked his fingers over her clit as he watched Ty stretch her. Ty wedged his fingers in her opening, the tips bunched together so they would fit. He nodded for Colby to up the pressure on her clit and pushed forward, feeling the stretch of tissue around his fingers as her cunt flickered and twitched.

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Her scream echoed off the ceiling. Ty froze. Hurting her was not what he wanted. Frantic whiskey eyes met his. “Don’t stop!” He smiled wickedly and flexed his fingers, bringing them into alignment. She gasped at the further stretch but did not pull away. “Oh, that feels incredible, so full!” Only Colby heard Ty mutter that she didn’t know what full was yet. Ty worked his fingers inside her steadily, twisting them a little with each stroke. Lord, he couldn’t wait to get inside her! He cursed as he pulled away, stripping off his jeans and going for the bedside table. **** Emma heard the rip of foil and then he was there over her. His brothers sat back as he took her mouth, kissing her deeply. “Are you ready for me, darlin’?” She nipped his bottom lip. “Always,” she assured him, dying to feel the thick spear of his body part her. He rose up on his arms, so huge and muscular she disappeared beneath him. Three breaths caught as she reached down and wrapped his girth, her fingers leaving quite a gap where they failed to meet around his latex-clad shaft. With a feminine little wiggle she introduced the wide head to her dripping pussy, her teeth catching her bottom lip as she felt the intimidating broadness. Her eyes closed as he gave a little shove. They snapped open as the wide head lodged inside her cunt. The stretch! The burn! She panted and writhed, wanting it to stop, wanting it to never end. Ty groaned as she lifted her legs to lie along his flanks and his shaft sank deeper inside her. He rocked back a little and thrust, half his length imbedding in her willing flesh. Emma urged him on with her body. She wanted him deep inside her. She wanted to feel his strength, his power. She didn’t need this gentle concern. “Now, Ty, let me have it now.”

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His eyes darkened to ebony as he gathered to thrust. This time Emma met him, lifting her hips and striving to take him. The breath was knocked from her body as he sank to the hilt. She writhed around him, wanting him to move, wanting him to never move. He lowered his head and kissed her. Emma reveled in the sweet poignancy, but she urged him on, her body demanding satisfaction. He dropped to his elbows and began to rock with her, his pelvis scraping the hard bud of her clit. The diamond points of her breasts rasped his hair-spattered chest with each deep drive. Emma was a gasping bundle of need. The stretch of her pliant flesh around the steel wedge of his cock rode close to the pleasurepain line but not close enough. “Harder, faster, I need more, Ty.” She surged her hips, a driving roll that was designed with the single purpose of sending him over the edge. A heartfelt “fuck!” was muttered in her ear a heartbeat before he flew into action. **** Hard and fast he hammered into her, wringing incoherent cries from her throat. Her body striving to meet him thrust for thrust assured him pleasure was the cause. He was close. He could feel the cum boiling in his balls. Way too close. He wanted her right there with him. He grabbed her hand and shoved it down between their bodies. She needed no further encouragement. He watched the pleasure build in her face, the slack need that filled her features. Her cries rose, intensifying as the promise of completion drew closer. She was so wild and beautiful in her passion it took his breath away. The nudge of her knuckles against his groin as fingertips slid in the thick arousal were his undoing. “Come for me, Em, let me feel you go.” His rough entreaty pushed her over the edge, and he couldn’t hold back the desperate thrust that let her know he had been holding back

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the whole time. She arched into him, climax gripping her as a muted roar exploded from him along with his seed. Her cunt tightened on him like a fist, squeezing. Milking him. Air was hard to come by as they struggled for breath. Aftershocks wracked both of their bodies. Em tried to pull him down upon her, but he didn’t want to crush her with his weight. He compromised, locking his elbows against her sides and resting against her while they both struggled to relearn how to breathe. Their hearts beat wildly, their chests pressed together. He soaked up the feel of her against him, gloried in the tentative new emotion he saw in her eyes. With great reluctance he withdrew from Em’s body, securing the condom as he slipped from her. He would have loved to feel her against his naked skin, but protecting her was more important than any pleasure. As he rolled away to dispose of the prophylactic, he smiled when Zach and Colby moved in. He was thankful they had given him space. He hadn’t shared a woman for a very long time, and he held his first time with Emma sacred. He was glad his brothers had respected the sanctity of their joining. Colb and Zach, on the other hand, were very used to sharing. **** Two warm bodies bracketed hers. Two very naked bodies. She could feel their steely erections pressed against each hip. Their hands ran over her, tweaking nerve endings, awakening hungers that had just been so spectacularly sated. Whispering heated entreaties in her ears, they brought her back to arousal. Curiosity made her sit up. She wanted to look at their bodies, map their differences. Colby’s muscular body wasn’t as heavily developed as Ty’s, but it was strongly formed, tight skin molding each muscle over his lightly tanned torso. A wide stretch of chest hair narrowed to a single, well-

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defined line of darker hair leading down from his navel. The crease of his hips arrowed in on the widely flared length of his cock. The mushroom-shaped head was so much wider than the shaft. Ripples of blood vessels crisscrossed his length. Em had an urge to run her tongue up it, to see if it felt as bumpy as it looked. She reached for him, her fingers learning his shape. She froze momentarily as she felt Zach come to his knees behind her. His body cupped hers as his lips teased along her shoulder. “That’s it, honey, get used to his body.” The harsh scrape of teeth brought her head back to loll against his shoulder. Her tongue swept over her plush lower lip as she squeezed Colby’s rigid stalk. “Go on, Em, do what you want to him, sweet. Give him a taste of that mouth.” His dark suggestion was too much. She leant down, feeling Zach’s member dig into the crease of her ass as she leant forward. Feminine power embraced her as she heard him swear and thrust a little harder. Her power to affect these big, strong men was staggering. Purposely, she gave her ass a little wiggle as her tongue darted out to map the enthralling contours of Colby’s hard cock. The swat across her buttock took her by surprise, but not as much as the mouth that followed. Zach laid big, open-mouth kisses over the globes of her ass, his hands kneading deeply in the resilient flesh. Spine melting with the slightly naughty sensation of Zach’s attentions, Em had eyes only for Colby as she opened her mouth wide and took the oversized head inside. His hiss as her tongue rubbed under the head encouraged her to keep doing it. His open face showed every nuance of his pleasure. Slack lips, slitted eyes, and every now and again, a rictus of pained pleasure crossed his features that she wanted to see again and again. She sucked him hard against her palate, tongue fluttering. “Oh, God, her mouth is unbelievable. Do something, Zach, I’m not gonna last, and I want to be inside her this time.” Colby’s voice was rough and shaky.

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**** Colby knew the moment his brother’s tongue touched her anus. Emma froze, whiskey eyes wild as they locked with his. Her mouth relaxed, his pride breathing a sigh of relief that he wouldn’t be sending his seed shooting down her throat at this early juncture. She looked ready to bolt. He was about to signal Zach back when he looked closer. She was shocked, that was for sure, but color was high on her cheeks. He felt the hot kiss of air rush past his saliva-wet cock as her breath exploded from her. Her eyes lost focus, and he knew Zach had just breached her tight ring. She was lost in this new, wicked pleasure. “Good girl,” Colby crooned, his hand tangling in her hair. “Let it feel good. Relax and let him show you how good it can be.” He pumped her slack mouth shallowly over his cock. Now that she couldn’t concentrate on destroying his self-control he could lay back and enjoy, watch the blood-darkened head of his cock slide between her swollen lips. **** Salacious pleasure ripped through Emma. Fried synapses and tortured neurons sent sparks of electricity dancing along her skin. This was too much. Too sinful, too decadent, too damn enthralling. Zach’s tongue taunted with diabolical intent, laving, rimming, spearing through the tight ring of muscle. All thought was washed away. Nothing existed but the steely hands and seductive mouth caressing her ass. The rough hand that twisted against her scalp, prickles of pain adding spice to her pleasure. And the sinfully salty

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head weeping tears of rapture against her tongue. Nothing but pleasure. **** Colby reached the end of his tether. He tugged her head up off his erection, watching the darkened head pop from her sultry mouth with awe. She had given in to the pleasure this time, let it sweep over her. There was no cognitive process going on behind those amber eyes. Only baser instincts remained. “Come here, honey. Climb up here and ride me,” Colby urged her to him, his hand groping toward the drawer for her protection. A foil package was slapped into his hand. He locked his eyes just long enough with Ty to know that he was okay with this, that he wanted his brothers to share in this love. “We gotta get you on birth control, sweet. We’ve all got a clean bill of health, and I’m just aching to feel you drip all over me.” Slim fingers followed the progress of the latex down his shaft, curious fingers. Colby swore that if they didn’t find an alternative form of birth control damn soon, he was going to teach her how to put them on with her teeth. He sucked in a breath as Zach lifted her to straddle his hips. Colby could see the engorged petals of Em’s sex shining slickly with her arousal. He fisted his cock, tucking the bloated head against her opening. He saw Zach prevented her from impaling herself. He held her tight, one hand splayed across her ribcage, the other cupping a breast, fingers torturing a peaked nipple. He saw Zach whisper darkly in her ear, saw her eyes roll back as he lowered her slowly. This was a game they had played before, one they had perfected. They knew they could bring a woman more pleasure together than they ever could apart. Loved it, lived for it.

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But it was more this time. They had an investment in this woman beyond the physical. A burgeoning emotional attachment that may very well be the real thing. The one who would end all others. **** The scorching brand of Colby’s dick parted her cunt, the thick head relentlessly forging through the tight entrance. She wanted to sink down upon him, to feel his balls against her ass as she took his full length, but Zach took control of her body. He held her immobile, whispering how he was going to make her wait, how she wouldn’t be allowed to feel all that hot flesh inside her until he allowed it. “Please, Zach! Let me go, let me have it.” Her impassioned plea breathed along his jaw, making it ripple as he reached for control. He smiled darkly and released his hold. She gasped and heard Colby’s bit-off curse as she sank all the way. Zach’s hands played over every stretch of sweat-dampened silk he could reach as Colby grasped her hips and directed her movements. Emma had never ridden a man before, never had all that power lay down for her pleasure. It was a revelation. A heady rush. A wicked dream. Her hips instinctively moved to Colby’s rhythm, though she found she wanted to grind against him rather than lift on his length. “Next time, sweet,” he promised her. “Next time you can do whatever you want. I need you this time, hard and fast.” He surged within her hot, wet clasp, his thumb reaching down to lay over her swollen clit. Emma went wild. Faster and faster she humped against him, Zach’s whispered encouragement, egging her on. The starburst hovered just out of reach. Wantonly she leant back, leaning into Zach’s body and changing the pressure within her. Her breath caught as she felt Colby go deeper, higher inside her. The conflagration so close now, so close she could feel the zaps of

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pleasure reversing, going to her extremities, engorging her nipples even further. “Come on, Emma, come for us!” Zach slid his finger to touch her dusky star, and pressed insidiously, and she exploded. Head flung back against the wall of hot, silken iron behind her, she jerked and jolted. **** Colby’s grip was cruel on her hips as he forced himself in again and again, forging through her convulsing sheath as he strove for his own release. A painful rictus gripped his passion-filled face as he felt the rush of semen from his body, its passage like molten magma through the eye of his cock. He groaned his completion to the ceiling, giving up his essence to the call of her seductive body. He had barely felt the last tremor when he felt her lifted from him, felt the loss of her tight, wet haven, but he knew Zach wouldn’t take her far. In fact, he found the alluring mounds of her breasts pushed over his face, ruby tips tantalizing his lips. Still floating in the afterglow, he opened his mouth wide and captured his prize with his teeth. Zach wasn’t letting her come back down. He wanted to drive her higher. They could be hard, forceful, as dominant as they wished, and she would love every second and ask for more. **** With no preliminaries, Zach thrust his sheathed cock deep inside her. Stretching her wet cunt anew, he began to thrust. The slap of his balls took her square on the clit with each heated drive. He kissed along the delicate ridge of her spine, bit nastily at her shoulders. Overburdened nerves responded with alacrity to the harsher treatment, overriding reason and reporting directly to the primordial

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part of her psyche. The part that ceded willingly to a conquering force. That yielded control in a primal quest for new life. Purely feminine, submissive, and giving. A groan was torn from somewhere deep in her body as she capitulated. Became nothing but a vessel for pleasure. Hers, theirs, it was all the same. Zach drove into her relentlessly, his cock finding the end of her with every thrust. Pressure against her cervix splintered into shards of pleasured pain. Answering echoes burst from her nipples as they were pinched, twisted, and bitten. Tenderness had no place in the maelstrom of carnality. The gathering storm loomed large and menacing, frightening her with its intensity. She began to fight it, bucking against the pleasure, tossing her head in denial. “Come for me, Emma,” Zach demanded, knowing she was holding back on him. “I can’t. It’s too much.” “Let go. We’ll hold you, baby, just let go.” Zach reached under and captured her clit between his fingers. He milked it, pinching delicately. Emma screamed, loudly and brutally, having to let the savage pleasure out somehow. She felt the need to rend flesh beneath her nails, to feel the give of hot skin between her teeth. All of that wild need came out in her scream. She didn’t feel Zach stiffen and join her but his low growl harmonized with the dying notes of her call. Emma collapsed between the men who had just so thoroughly pleasured her. Unconsciousness beckoned. Her body protested its exhaustion when she felt Zach lift from her. Strong arms gathered her and pulled her in to a large body. Her back cushioned against thick slabs of muscle. Ty. Safe and secure, she gave in to her body’s demand for oblivion. ****

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Emma didn’t hear Ty’s phone ring or feel him reach for it. She probably would not have been amused, as the younger two Whelans were, when it was Andy checking if everything was all right. The patrol checking the hill behind the house had called in a woman screaming. Andy had chuckled at Ty’s dry reassurance that everything was back under control now and promised to call them off before they busted down the front door. Zach and Colb cleaned up and decided they were starving. Ty was quite content to hold the near comatose woman nice and close while they attacked Beth’s cooking. He needed time to reflect, to weigh and measure. He was blown away by the selfless way Emma had gifted them with her trust. Her unwavering certainty that they would not hurt her, the generosity of her body and her unabashed display of pleasure were staggering, completely humbling. Letting Emma Duncan go was not an option.

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Chapter 9 Warm bodies surrounded hers when she woke. Darkness prevailed, the thin sliver of light under the bathroom door the only illumination. Emma’s stomach rumbled. A lazy smile curled her lips when she remembered the reason for her missing dinner. A stretch proved her body wouldn’t be forgetting it anytime soon. A delicious ache rode her body, reminding her she had been well loved last night. She lifted her head cautiously. She didn’t want to wake anyone, but if she didn’t get something in her stomach, its growling would rouse them anyway. She climbed over Colby and escaped. She thought that a better option than trying to get over Ty’s big body. A shirt from beside the bed made for a hasty nightie. She had no idea where her pajamas had gone. Their life expectancy appeared short around here. The top she wore smelled better than hers anyway. She thought it was Zach’s, but it could have been Colby’s. It wasn’t big enough for Ty. She plucked a pair of thick socks from the top of a basket full of folded washing and pulled them on, stretching them over her bandaged ankles. The hardwood floors were cold. The kitchen was chilly as she raided the fridge for leftovers. The digital display on the microwave told her it was a little after three. She had just put a bowl of Beth’s chicken hot pot into the machine when she felt someone watching. She turned and found Ty leaning against the doorframe, face inscrutable. “Hey,” Emma greeted him softly. “Sorry if I woke you, I was hungry.” He smiled indolently, face still sleepy. He had pulled on some silk boxers, but that was all. “That’s okay, Em. You should have woken

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me. I would have gotten you something to eat.” His voice sounded just as sleepy. Emma wanted to go to him and pull all that somnolent warmth around her, but the ding of the microwave called her away. Ty moved to the cupboard for a bowl. “I might join you. I am supposed to be up in an hour anyway. Mondays are track mornings. I’ve got to be down there at five. At least breakfast will have time to settle. There is nothing worse than being ass-up under a horse with a gut full of food.” Emma sat at the scarred, old table and watched him move about the kitchen as she ate. Why was it that males were oblivious to the cold? Even his little brown nipples weren’t puckered up. That didn’t make them any less mouthwatering, though. Resolutely she fixed her eyes on her food. She was going to miss her mouth otherwise, and chicken hot pot decorating her chin was a look she could do without. **** She didn’t see the small curl to Ty’s mouth as he sat down. He could feel the weight of her gaze no matter how circumspect she was. It gave him a thrill that a pretty little thing like her found his big, old, battered body worthy of attention. His younger brothers had gotten all the refinement and conventional good looks. He was ruggedly handsome at best. If she liked his body for some reason he wasn’t about to question his luck. **** “What was it like growing up in Liberty Springs?” Em was curious, and it seemed like a perfect chance to satisfy her weakness. “We only moved here when we were kids. Our parents were killed in a car crash and we came to live with Beth, Joe, and Ron. Dad was Beth’s sister and hadn’t approved of her way of life, so we hadn’t had

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much to do with her. But you know how Beth is. It only took her a month to have us all feeling at home and making a new life. “School wasn’t as difficult as it could have been. I guess people don’t live here if they aren’t open-minded. And for all the home cooking and hugs, Beth was a woman of steel. Fighting was not tolerated, and you couldn’t rely on her sympathy if you got hurt. ‘No blood, no broken bones, no tears.’” He smiled fondly as he talked about Beth. For all Emma had known they were close, she hadn’t realized the woman had raised the brothers. He talked with fond memories of the football grudge matches with neighboring towns and the brawls that would ensue when one of the opposition would insult someone’s mother. And explained why that was never a problem here. Respect for women was drummed into the boys of Liberty Springs until it was as natural as their next breath. “Come on, I’ve got to have a shave.” Ty stood and headed for the main bathroom. “You can keep grilling me there if you want.” Unable to resist an opportunity to watch him, Em complied. She watched as he laid a towel out on the long marble bench down from the mirror. Before she could ask what that was for, he picked her up and plunked her down on the towel. “Can’t have you freezing that ass off.” He grinned, running hot water into the sink. He took her moment of flushed silence as a chance to ask his own question. “What about you? I know your dad was the late Geoffrey Duncan, L.A. business tycoon, but that is it.” He wet his face down and lathered it with foam. Watching him carry out this mundane but essentially male procedure captivated Emma. She found she was telling him more than she had ever told anyone about her life. It was only when he asked her sister’s name that she realized she had let the family skeleton out of the closet. “Casey, but she uses Buckley instead of Duncan. John Buckley was the man who raised her. She sees him as her father no matter what the paternity test showed.” Her father had been somewhat indiscreet a few years after her birth. Emma was glad her mother had not been around to hear of his

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illegitimate daughter. Emma had met Casey a few times when she was a rebellious teenager. The fiery redhead had been going through the Goth-hair-writing-death-poetry stage when Emma had last seen her, though she called her for Christmas and birthdays. Casey would be twenty-four now. Emma admitted a curiosity in seeing what kind of woman she had grown into. Casey had been starting her own business when Em had spoken to her last, something to do with landscaping. “You should invite her down for a visit when we get this problem sorted out.” He flicked the razor up under his chin before checking for bits he had missed. Emma reached out and touched a little cluster of dark bristle near his upper lip. “Missed a bit.” She leaned back and pondered his suggestion. “I couldn’t do that now. What am I going to tell her about you lot?” “There’s always the truth.” He grinned when her eyes met his in the mirror, eyebrows raised. He rinsed his face. “And that is?” He toweled dry and splashed on some aftershave. “There’s no bag limit in Liberty Springs.” Emma laughed as he came to her, gathering her close and kissing her playfully. Heat sparked before too long. Ty lifted and she saw fire kindling in his eyes. “I gotta go.” He sounded more than a little regretful. “There are some bad-mannered horses and small men with big egos waiting for me at the track. You be good.” **** It wasn’t malice that made him turn the bright light on to find his clothes, just a touch of mischief that he hadn’t felt the bite of in quite a while. Ty smiled at the groans coming from the bed. Colby pulled a pillow over his head while Zach just scrunched up his face as he complained, “Do you have to?”

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“Nope, just thought it would be entertaining. I’m heading off to work; I should be back around one. Can you two trade off at the store until I get home?” They knew he meant that one of them should be with Em the whole time. “We were planning on that anyway. Where is she?” “In the shower. She was moving a little stiffly this morning.” He leveled the two men in the bed a stare. “Try to control yourselves, okay?” “Jesus, Ty, what do you think we are, some kind of animals?” Colby complained. “No, but if she gives you two the look I just got in the bathroom, you will be hard-pressed to walk away.” “And you weren’t?” “I wasn’t hard-pressed, just hard.” He smiled ruefully as he stepped out the door. **** “Hey, Zach?” Colby’s voice was thoughtful. “Mmm?” “If she is in the other shower, where are her clothes?” Zach grinned. “Right in here where we left them.” The thought of her walking in wrapped in a towel, all pink and damp from the shower, held them spellbound. Two sets of eyes watched the doorway expectantly, blood thickening hopeful flesh. Half an hour later, Colby spoke, “Hey, Zach?” “Mmm.” “I don’t think she’s coming.” Zach laughed and swung out of bed, padding naked to the adjoining bathroom. Who said Colby wasn’t a Mensa candidate? ****

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Emma was bustling around the kitchen, determined to make breakfast for Zach and Colby. She had commandeered more clothes from the basket in the hall, but now they needed washing again. There was flour on every surface, eggshells on the bench, milk spilled on the floor. The phone rang, but she couldn’t find a cloth to wipe her hands with. Shit. She was looking around frantically when Zach answered the wall phone just inside the kitchen door. “Hello…hi, Beth…no, she’s right here…cooking breakfast by the look of it...” Emma heard the screech come from the phone as Zach held it defensively away from his ear. “No, Beth, that’s fine. We’ll do it… I promise you…I’ll ring you later…Yes, we will do it properly… Bye.” Zach looked at the phone as he hung it up, a grin creasing his gorgeous face. “Well, that was interesting.” He turned to Emma, smiling as he wiped a smudge of flour off her cheek. “Ron is feeding up for you today, and I am quoting verbatim here, Em, ‘don’t let that woman anywhere near the kitchen. She’s worse at cooking than Colby is at cleaning.’” He looked around the disaster site that was the kitchen. “And I promised to clean up after you.” He stepped up and kissed her while her hands were out of commission. A teasing dip and slide that had her leaning after him as he pulled back, going to check the pan on the stove. “Was this a pancake?” He peered at the smoking disk. “Shit, I got distracted and forgot about that one. Can you put it in the bin with the rest of them?” “I’ll put it on the sink. Dozer can play Frisbee with it if he won’t eat it.” He looked around for her batter. Eventually finding the jug, he buttered the now cooled pan and started cooking another one. “Oh, am I supposed to put butter in there?”

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Zach laughed and handed her a dish towel to wipe her hands. “Sit up here and watch. I’ll show you how to cook the best pancakes you have ever eaten.” Em watched as he moved efficiently around the kitchen, cleaning up after her as he cooked one perfectly browned pancake after another. “Hey, Zach, have you stolen my blue shirt again?” Colby came into the room, lips quirking when he saw Zach was not the culprit. “Morning, Em.” He took in her body pressing against his shirt in all the right places. “It looks better on you than it does on me. Don’t know if flour embellishments will take off, though.” He grinned at her when she stuck her tongue out at him. “That bit on your nose is downright cute, though.” She wiped her nose and thumped Zach as he walked past. “You could have told me.” “Nah, he’s right, it looked cute.” He feigned pain at her backhand to his hard stomach. “Set the table, Colb. Pancakes are on the way.” Emma had never had so much fun at the breakfast table. Laughter abounded as Zach described Beth’s call. Colby offered to stay and clean up but Zach told him to go to work. Emma asked why. “If you are ever feeling particularly brave, just poke your head in his room. Beth refuses to even open the door when she comes to clean. Cleanliness is not his strong point. He’s thirty-four years old and still has to be told to take a shower every day.” Zach exaggerated, loving eyes on Emma’s smile. “Come on, you made the mess, you can help clean it up.” It was so easy to forget that there was a stalker outside when she was having that much fun. The morning sped by. Colby came home at lunch time and swapped with Zach. Colby was working on some invoices and Emma was immersed in Kenneth and Lillian’s torrid encounter when Ty came home, a rough bandage encircling his arm. The telltale brown stains brought Em to her feet. “Christ, Ty, what happened?”

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“It’s not much more than a scratch. A horse reared away when I was clinching the nails, caught me up the inside of the arm. I just need to clean it.” He looked around. “Do either of you two know what the black things are Dozer is throwing around the back yard?” Colby laughed, and Em turned red, pointing him toward the bathroom. She marched straight into the bathroom after him, hunting around in the cabinet for disinfectant. Emma took control, wincing when she removed the crude bandage. “A scratch, huh?” The two jagged wounds were nearly six inches long and deep enough in places that they should have been stitched. “These will need butterfly clips at the very least.” She bent down in search of first aid supplies. **** Eyes on her ass, Ty decided she could do whatever she wanted. He could get used to her tender concern, not to mention her curvy little body. Having someone fuss over him was a novel experience. If it had been anyone else babying him he would have felt very uncomfortable, but with Em, he just sat back and let her have her way. Yep, he could definitely get used to this. The wound might have got a splash of antiseptic and a Band-Aid if he had looked after it, but twenty minutes later Ty’s arm looked like a prop for The Mummy. Colby sniggered when Emma led Ty out of the bathroom and sat him down, asking what he wanted for lunch, but he gave frantic cutoff signs behind her back when she asked if she could cook Ty anything. “Just a sandwich, thanks, Em. Doesn’t matter what’s on it, I eat anything in that fridge.” Ty questioned Colby as soon as Em left the room. He was laughing softly when she came back with the food. “Good thing all three of us can cook, huh?” “All of you can?” Emma sounded surprised.

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“Yep, Beth made sure we wouldn’t be a burden on any woman.” He grinned at his younger brother. “Colb just seemed to miss all the lessons on cleaning, and laundry, and personal hygiene…” He ducked as Colby launched a pillow at him. “Hey, wounded person here, have a little care.” He brandished his bandaged arm like a shield, smiling when Em made an exasperated noise and headed for the kitchen, laptop in tow. Both men grinned. Life didn’t get much better than this. **** Immersed in her story, she didn’t hear the knock at the front door, but thankfully, Colby did and let Andy Calhoun in. The tall officer fit right in with the six-foot-plus men already inhabiting the house. Emma should have felt intimidated by all the towering bodies and flying testosterone, but she felt protected and amused, and just a tiny bit vertically challenged. She shut the laptop and greeted the newcomer. “Good afternoon, Deputy.” “Emma, please call me Andy.” Emma nodded. “Are you here with good news or bad news?” “A bit of both I am afraid.” He glanced up at Ty. “Zach should probably be here. I don’t want to have to go through this twice.” “I’ll call him.” Ty went for the phone. Andy laid his big brown eyes on Emma. She noticed his surprise when she didn’t flinch at his scarring. She could understand why people would do so, but his big, soulful brown eyes won her over. She met his gaze easily. He smiled at her open regard. “While we’re waiting for Zach I can apprise you of our progress with your premises. Our tech unit has gone over your security system, and we now know that the suspect has gained full access to your house and grounds. He managed to achieve administrator status with the system and used it to create a

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master override remote to control each component. He could operate each sensor, gate, and light from a distance. He could also access the cameras on the gate and in front of the house. “We found a spot on the hill opposite your gate that has seen a lot of traffic lately. It is only accessible off the power company maintenance track that runs along the lines. Not somewhere he could stumble across by accident. “Beth has the new security people over there now, installing a whole new system. I have checked them out and she has hired the best. You can be confident no one will be able to infiltrate the new system. It should be fully operational by the end of the week. Emma shuddered at the level of access the stalker had gained to her life. “So he has been here for a while then?” “At least three months.” Andy’s expression was cold. “Protecting you would have been a lot easier if you had informed me of the danger to you when you moved here, Ms. Duncan.” “I moved here to get away from the constant pressure this stalker was placing on my life, Andy. And that included the protection that was smothering me twenty-four-seven.” She willed him to understand her need for space. Their eyes were locked in a silent battle of wills when Zach let himself in. “What’d I miss?” He took in the policeman and Emma’s locked gazes. “Won’t work, Andy. Em can’t be intimidated. Nice try, though.” He kissed Emma’s temple, breaking the silent battle, and took a seat between his brothers. Emma wouldn’t be backed down by anyone. She had faced off with a deranged, would-be rapist. One scarfaced deputy with puppy dog eyes wasn’t going to cut it. “We are all here now, Andy. What have you got for us?” Ty put his arm along the back of Emma’s chair, the gesture both protective and possessive. “There have been no sightings of anyone new in town, no suspicious behavior, nothing. Either this guy is a ghost or he has submerged himself in the population so well that he is flying under

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the radar. Either we flush him out, or Emma gets to spend her time under constant threat.” “Not an option.” The cold certainty of Colby’s voice sent tingles down Em’s spine. She hadn’t realized he could be just as serious as the other two. “What do you mean by ‘flush him out’?” Zach was just as serious, and more than a little suspicious. “This guy has expressed an unhealthy interest in certain proclivities. The profiler believes it is because of similar abuse as a child. If we can get him to think this is happening to Emma, and give him an opportunity, he will go out of his way to watch. From the transcripts it doesn’t appear to matter who does this, only that Emma experiences it.” His face was a little red by the time he finished speaking. The three brothers shared a glance. Everyone knew exactly what Andy was talking all around. “It wouldn’t work here. It would have to be somewhere where he could get an opportunity to see.” Zach’s voice was thoughtful. “The springs?” Colby suggested. “No, too open, we need somewhere that there is only one way in and one way out. Somewhere that he would know he would be able to see every sordid detail.” Ty sat back, his face pensive as he thought his way around the problem. Emma blinked. Hard. Indignity rising fast. This was her ass they were talking about. She hadn’t missed the point of all Andy’s careful wording any more than the brothers had. “Excuse me? Hello, this is Emma. You know, the woman whose ass you’re putting on the line here, in more ways than one?” If they missed the biting sarcasm, the matching tone should have warned them. Only Andy had the good grace to flush. Emma found herself the subject of three steely gazes. “Not happening. If, and only if, I ever decide to let you anywhere near my ass, it will be when and where I choose. Not in front of a group of

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strangers waiting for the possibility of this twisted unit to show up.” The red on her cheeks had nothing to do with embarrassment and everything to do with rage. High-handedness she would not tolerate. Slate gray eyes flew to hers. She could see the heat kindle at her defiance, but she wouldn’t blink. “There is no fucking way we would let another man see what is now ours, Emma, let alone take you like that where anyone could see. We only need to make him think we are going to, to lay bait and see what bites.” Ty’s gaze bored into hers. “So stop worrying about your lovely little ass and help us protect it.” Her chin flew up at his reprimand, but she kept her mouth shut. She felt guilty for having doubted them, for ever thinking they would subject her to such humiliation. **** Andy suppressed a grin. The Whelans had their hands full with this one. “If you are all agreeable, I was going to suggest the canyon cabin.” The cabin was one of four co-owned by the Keenans and the Marshalls, leased out for illicit weekends and fully outfitted for deviant pleasure. It was famous for the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the hidden valley. Eyebrows raised as the brothers considered the possibilities. “That would work. There is enough traffic in the vicinity to make him think he could slip in, but only one way through the canyon mouth to anywhere he would be able to see from. The police wouldn’t even have to be in view of the cabin itself. It is the approach they would have to monitor.” Zach approved. Ty and Colby concurred. Andy breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought the men would have objected to his plan. Men like them became notoriously possessive once they finally found their woman. That all of them had found the same woman just meant that it was multiplied threefold. “I will work with the special team to set it up. We’ll go for this weekend, which should give you enough time to lay the bait. Go to

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the Kat and book the cabin. I’ll see Cal and give him a heads-up. He’ll make sure word gets about that you’re taking Emma there. You probably should go to Aiden’s and make some public purchases, get chins wagging and all that. I will leave it to you lot to do whatever you feel is appropriate to bait the trap.” No way in hell was he going to be liable for spreading gossip about their woman. If they were the ones that did it, they took the responsibility. “Call me if you think of anything else between now and then. I’ll come by and brief you on Friday if we don’t make any progress between now and then.” He bid them good afternoon and left. **** Silence prevailed when Andy left, everyone lost in their own thoughts until Emma spoke. “Who’s Aiden?” Colby’s eyes sparkled. “Aiden owns Needful Things.” “I’ve never been in there. There is never anything on display in the window.” Emma frowned Zach and Colby laughed, but Ty knew better. He coughed and ducked his head. “What?” “Aiden’s is an adult toy shop, Em. A window display wouldn’t go down very well,” Ty ended up telling her before her temper asserted itself. “Oh.” Em blushed a little at her naïveté. “Why would going there help in baiting the trap?” Ty saw that his brothers were smirking away like schoolgirls. The juvenile little shits were leaving it up to him to educate Emma. “Do you know what a butt plug is, Em?” “I am not totally ignorant, Ty.” She was a little indignant. “Glad to hear it,” he replied dryly. “If one of us were to go in there and purchase a few, and let people see what we bought,

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especially the right person, it would be assumed that we were preparing you for anal sex, Em.” “Oh.” “Don’t forget the lube. Better get a bulk pack.” Colby was oblivious of Emma’s discomfort. “And a tickler or two. They’re more versatile than plugs.” Zach put in his two cents worth. Emma stood, picking up her computer. “I’ve got work to do. Let me know when you have decided on how to totally embarrass me.” She made for the lounge room, backbone rigid. “For fuck’s sake, can’t you two grow up a bit?” Ty got up and followed her, but the door shutting in his face was a pretty clear indication that Emma wanted some space, lots of it, right now. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before returning to the kitchen where Colby and Zach were gleefully making a list of requirements to be bought. Ty winced when he saw the length of it. Aiden and Visa were going to do pretty well out of this. Item after item was added to the list. Ty glanced down the list before sitting down with a few suggestions of his own. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. **** Emma was still frosty when Beth arrived with dinner and some more stuff from Emma’s house. She really hoped they didn’t share the plan with the older woman; Emma had enough trouble looking her in the eye, knowing she was sleeping with her nephews. The plan was a little personal for Emma to feel confident talking about. Zach, however, had no such qualms. He informed his aunt of every facet of the arrangement from start to finish. Emma was mortified. Beth, however, was her usual no-nonsense self. “Nothing to be embarrassed about, girl. I’ve got two husbands. There’s nothing you

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could dream up that I haven’t done in one way or another. Anything that will catch this asshole is worth it.” Emma got a kick out of seeing the men blush and pull “icky” faces like teenagers who discovered their parents were still having sex. Beth winked before heading out. “I need a shower after that.” Colby shuddered and rolled his shoulders. He got up and left the table to the laughter of the others. “Wish I had known that’s all it takes. I’ll get Beth to tell you about her love life every day,” Ty teased. “I don’t want to hear about it.” Colby put his hands over his ears and hummed loudly as he headed off down the hall. “I don’t know why you tease Colby about showering, he always smells good.” Emma felt a little defensive for him. “Darlin’, you have no idea how bad he was when he first moved in with us. He had this theory that his newfound freedom extended to being able to do exactly what he wanted, and that included going a week without a shower. We cured him of that, but he is still a slob around the house. At least he keeps it confined to his room now.” “He was really that bad?” “Worse, Ty is being gentle with you,” Zach assured her, clearing the table. “Have you stuck your head in his room yet?” “I haven’t been game.” “Until you do, you won’t understand where we are coming from.” Emma stood and squared her shoulders. Ty and Zach watched with amusement as she braced herself before venturing down the hall. She came back in a matter of seconds, fluttering her hands like she had touched something yucky. “Oh, my God! How can anyone live like that? Can someone start the other shower for me? I need to get clean.” Ty laughed. “You were warned.” He stood and turned her toward the master bedroom and the second bathroom. “You will have to settle for washing your hands until I take those bandages off.” Twenty minutes later she was clean and wrapped in a fuzzy robe. The lounge room was full of male bodies lazing around in front of the

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TV where some B-grade action flick had captured their attention. All three of them appeared freshly showered. Emma shook her head. How could three men get clean in the time of one woman? She couldn’t think of an answer that wasn’t personally insulting. While the movie played, Emma perched in a corner of the lounge, her laptop on a swinging TV tray Zach found somewhere. It was a good thing that freed up her lap because Colby’s head took up residence, claiming his pillow while Ty was in the kitchen. Ty’s lips had quirked before he took the other armchair. Emma had half expected him to pull rank. Writing an erotic scene with a head on your lap was a novel experience. Emma had been given one valuable piece of advice when she first started writing romance, “if you don’t get wet writing it, it ain’t worth reading.” The problem was that she didn’t know if it was from the words pouring out of her and lighting up the screen, or from the dark head that nestled a little deeper into her lap every few minutes. She would grow accustomed to his presence, and then he would squirm, making her mind wander and her ovaries sit up and say hello. Not conducive to good writing. Or maybe it was. Kenneth was scorching her fingers as the words kept pouring out. His mastery and experience devastated Lillian, his mouth doing things only alluded to in Em’s previous novels. She nearly stopped, knowing she would have to clean this up later, but curiosity reigned. She let go of her inhibitions and let her fingers type. An hour later Emma lifted her head and shook her arms out, quickly scanning what she had written. Face hot, she peeked around. Ty and Zach were looking at her with undisguised longing. Their nostrils flared, predators scenting the wind. She glanced down at Colby, noting the smile curling his lips as he resolutely faced the screen. The tenting of his track pants told the story.

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She knew she was wet, but those bastards could smell her! Colby couldn’t help but notice it, but the other two were so far away! She withheld the urge to move and feel just how wet she was. It became too much, both her embarrassment at her arousal and the scrutiny of the men. She got up, nudging Colby’s head off her and shutting the computer. She stalked from the room, face flaming when she felt the moisture wetting her thighs. She just hoped to hell there wasn’t a wet patch on her robe. **** Three sets of eyes locked on to the wet spot on her robe as she stormed out. “Oh, God, I thought I was going to die if I had to just lie there any longer. I’m hard enough to pound nails.” Colby rolled to his back, hands going to his head, dragging them slowly over his face. “Why did she run?” “I think Em’s a little embarrassed by how turned on she was. I’d love to read whatever it was she was writing.” “Leave her computer alone, Zach,” Ty admonished. While he was curious, not to mention hard, there were boundaries that had to be respected and Em’s computer was off limits. He got to his feet, sleeping shorts tented impressively. “I think Em is in need of a little assurance that her arousal is nothing to be ashamed of, and a lesson in asking for what she wants.” His lion’s grin was echoed in those of his brothers and did not match the sedate wording. Teaching a woman to ask for relief was something they enjoyed. They were damn good at it, too. “Shall we take odds on what she’s doing? In bed sulking, taking a cold shower, or finishing the job herself?” Heat filled Zach’s eyes as he proposed the last. Soundlessly the brothers grappled as they fought to be first to the bedroom. Ty won by the smallest margin, signaling them back as he cracked the door. His eyes darted this way and that, but she was not in

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the bedroom. He entered soundlessly and padded across to the adjoining bath, the two others close behind. Emma must have slammed the sliding door, and it had bounced back instead of latching. They could hear running water. Cautiously, Ty slid the door back. He nearly passed out as every drop of blood servicing his brain strived to fit into his cock. Emma was behind the clear glass facing away from him, her leg up on the edge of the bath as she drove something into her pussy again and again, other hand working furiously at her crotch as hot water spilled over her naked form. Ty stepped back and let his brothers have a peek. Zach shook his head, a gleam in his eye that would have sent Emma running had she have seen it. Zach turned and walked to prepare the bed. Emma had a lesson to learn. She was to ask for relief, not find pleasure at her own hands unless it was at their direction for their pleasure. Ty smiled at the idea of teaching her this vital lesson. Hearing Emma beg was becoming an all consuming need. Colby just stepped aside with a grin, knowing what must be done. He started stripping off even as Ty jerked his own shorts over the erection straining them. This was gonna be so much fun.

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Chapter 10 Emma was frantic. Wet and horny. She had found her little, waterproof vibrator in her toiletry case yesterday and been mortified that Beth had packed it. Tonight she could have kissed her in gratitude. The steaming water beat down upon her swollen breasts, the hard spray like a million points of sensation caressing the hungry mounds. The little vibrator had always felt so big, stretching her tender tissues when she felt the need for impalement. Mostly she had just used its powerful vibrations on her clit to put out any fires that arose with her writing, but right now she needed hard, fast, and deep. After taking the large, corded cocks of the Whelan brothers, it just wasn’t hitting the spot at all. She willed her mind to join the fight for release, one hand rapidly circling her clit. She closed her eyes and thought of what it would be like to have the Whelans take her fully, to feel them fill every orifice. To have the burn of one in her ass, feel the ultimate act of domination. Feel the bite of exquisite agony Zach had introduced her to with his wicked fingers and questing tongue. To have her pussy filled to capacity, her wet sticky juices flowing freely over both cocks as they plunged within her. Possessing her, owning her. Her mouth would be full of the sinful taste of man, silken skin and tangy saltiness tantalizing her mouth. Full, filled to excess in every way. Her body out of her control, owned by the men driving her through orgasm after orgasm. Her mind devoid of all but the burning pleasure. Quivering, on the cusp.

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“That’s cheating, darlin’.” Ty’s large hand plucked the toy from her fingers as he closed in behind her. His other hand reached past and turned the water off. Emma stifled a scream and tried to turn and flee, but a towel was wrapped around her and it was Colby’s face that startled her as he bundled her off toward the bed. “Emma’s been a bad girl. All you had to do was ask, sweetheart, and you could have been screaming out your pleasure right now. But you were being bad.” He slid his hand down to cup the juicy mound of her pussy. “This right here? It belongs to us; you don’t get to play with it without permission. If you beg real nice, we might let you come, but it is not going to be for a long while, sweetheart.” Zach had stripped the bed down to the bottom sheet. The large expanse was well lit. Zach knelt at the head of the bed, gloriously naked. She bounced as Colby dropped her to the mattress, but before she could come up swinging Zach had hold of her, wrists pinned beside her head. Any panic that flared over her helplessness was lost to a growl of pleasure as Ty descended on her breasts. Taking as much of her breast as he could into the wet heat of his mouth, he sucked hard. Emma arched off the bed, pushing into his mouth for more. Zach just smiled down at her as he bore down on her wrists. “That’s it, Em. Fight it all you want, we’re just gonna keep going, take you to the edge again and again until you’re ready to ask for it. Are you ready to beg yet, honey?” “Fuck you, Zach. I was managing just fine without you lot.” Ty raised his head, crooked smile decorating his mouth. “With this little thing?” He held up the ridiculously small vibrator. “I don’t think so.” Mischief sparkled in his eyes as he backed away. “I’d love to know what was going through that pretty little head as you were hammering that pussy, darlin’. Tell me what it was and I’ll let you have this back where you want it.” He dragged the vibrating head of the toy across the wet portal to her body, exposed where Colby pinned her legs wide.

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Emma gasped. Why did it feel so much better when someone else did it? “In your dreams, Ty.” Her voice said she was immune to his touch, but the way she rolled her hips looking for more kind of ruined the effect. **** “Oh, believe me, darlin, there’s been plenty of those. I’ve watched you twitch that hot little ass around for years, and I’ve seen you watch me, too, darlin’. I can make you so damn hot you will be begging in minutes, but there are three of us now, darlin, and only one of you. With those odds it will only take one red-hot minute.” He nodded to Zach. Zach’s lips closed over her nipple at the same time that Ty applied the vibrator right on her clit. The glistening little pearl had no defense against the tormentor. Swollen and exposed, it peeked out from beneath the hood hungrily. Ty watched her carefully. The very second she gathered to fly he stopped cruelly. Her curses music to his ears, he waited for her to finish venting. “…bringing a toy to do a man’s job.” “But that’s exactly what you did, darlin’. I would much prefer to have my mouth down there. I’d love to have that little clit pounding under my tongue, but you’re going to have to ask for it. Until then this pathetic little toy is all you’re getting.” He gave it a flick before running it from the tip of her slit down to her puckered anus and back again. He didn’t miss the heat that flared in her eyes as he circled her forbidden hole. For all her talk of “if and only if,” she wanted to taste the dark pleasure. “Hey, Colb?” “Yeah?” “Reckon we should flip her over and put that little ass up for you to play with?” “Fuck, yeah!” “Hey! I miss out on her boobs if you do that,” Zach objected.

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“Don’t worry, I’m sure Emma could be convinced to put that hot little mouth to work. All she needs is the right persuasion.” He slipped the toy halfway in to her wet cunt, watching her eyes slide shut. She could be tamed. It just took the right touch. “She’s got sharp teeth.” Zach sounded hesitant. “She bites you, you get to paddle this ass. And I’ll slide this in there as you do.” He circled the slick toy around her rosebud, pressing threateningly. “You won’t bite, will you, darlin?” “Fuck you, Ty.” She panted. “No, it’s gonna be the other way around, darlin’, but only if you ask real nice.” She let out a girly squeal as Ty flipped her over. “Here Colb, get hold of her hips while I get under her.” Ty set her as he wished. She was actually kneeling on his shoulders, her knees resting just below the ends of his collarbones when he finished. The wide stance gave him unlimited access but didn’t allow her to drop down and grind against his face. She would probably suffocate him if he didn’t drown first. He smiled darkly. What a way to go! “She’s gone awful quiet up there, Zach, what’s happening?” Ty’s deep voice sent a shiver ghosting along her spine. “Dunno, I just gave myself a bit of a rub and she’s gone all quiet.” Ty could hear the mischief in Zach’s voice. He knew damn well women found male masturbation provocative. Ty decided to see if she could think of two things at once. He touched the humming midget phallus to the side of her clit and watched as she bucked above his face. “Come on, Em, ask me and I’ll use my tongue. I might even suck that swollen little clit if you ask real nice.” **** “Not fucking happening.” Emma was lost in the sensation humming next to her clit and the sight of Zach’s big hand pumping

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slowly up and down his ridged cock. She licked dry lips, wanting a taste, wanting to collect the droplet of nectar he milked from it with her tongue like a humming bird. But not so lost that she would give in and beg. She gritted her teeth in an effort not to give away her impending orgasm. “She’s trying to hide it, Colb. Where’s the one place she can’t lie to us?” “I’ll get the lube.” “Don’t need it, there’s so much cream down here I’m gonna be drowning in it real soon.” Emma stiffened as she felt him paint her anus with her cream. He wouldn’t, would he? He did. His finger slid into the clamped ring, clenched muscles no defense against his well-lubed digit. “Oh, Christ, she’s so fucking tight.” “Just tell me if she starts to tighten. She’s not getting a sneak orgasm.” Ty was adamant as he provoked her further with the humming toy. The insidious finger impaling her ass held Emma captive. Her eyes glazed over, and she didn’t see the slide and pull of Zach’s teasing hand. The thrill of Ty’s breath low on her body became background noise. With one finger Colby held her complete attention. **** Zach saw the look on her face. “Good girl, honey.” He rubbed the head of his cock across her lips, a pearly sheen painting the reddened bows. “Open up and let me in, Em.” Obediently her mouth opened. Zach slid shallowly into the hot welcome of her mouth. His eyes closed and he sucked air through his teeth at the wet embrace. His hand slid from where it held both wrists to fist in her hair, the other he kept wrapped around his rampant dick

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to control his depth. She had only just begun to submit. Making her gag would bring her back to fighting them real quick. “She just got wetter. Lord, I am going to drown.” Ty’s voice was sounding desperate. “Beg for me, Em.” She shook her head, but the words were muffled. Zach’s curse told the reason. “Christ, Zach, how is she supposed to answer with a mouth full of cock?” “I don’t know, but keep askin’ her. It feels un-fuckin-believable when she tries to talk.” Colby chuckled at his brother’s vehemence. “That is some mouth she has, huh?” “I think I died and went to heaven.” Zach bit off a few curses as her teeth gently scraped him. Her mouth was sinful paradise. Luscious lips and tongue with the darker edge of sharp teeth. Zach’s personal Valhalla. **** “That’s it, honey, show me how much you want it.” Zach’s hand kneaded her scalp, the pinch and pull of hair deepening her pleasure. Emma’s throat relaxed, letting the width of his cock slide deeper in the confines of her mouth, the addictive brine bathing her tongue as small amounts of cum escaped his control. Nothing mattered but taking him deeper, feeling him fill her, nothing more important than his salty tang. Nothing, until Colby wiggled his finger. She groaned around the meat of Zach’s cock, her mouth going slack as the illicit seduction of his questing digit ripped through her. Sensual decadence gripped her mind, her body the slave of the three men possessing her.

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“Ask for it, darlin, whatever you want, you only have to ask.” Ty’s voice was labored, the allure of her fragrant arousal taking its toll. “Everything, I want everything.” The words were gasped, her breath labored. “Mmm, that sounded more like a demand than a request, Ty.” Colby’s voice held heated amusement. “But we are getting somewhere. I reckon two fingers should do the trick.” He slipped from her tight grip and collected more of the fluids dripping so freely from her neglected cunt. Emma panted as she felt two fingers press for entrance. Involuntarily her sphincter tightened. “Ease up, baby. Take a deep breath. I’ll slide right in and you will feel it like never before. That dark edge you love so much. Breathe, Em.” Colby laid an open-mouth kiss on the rounded curve of one cheek before nipping hard. Emma shuddered as the small pain tweaked fevered nerves, stoking the flames higher. Shuddered and took a deep breath. Colby breached her ass as her muscles relaxed enough to admit two wellslicked fingers. He slid them to the second knuckle before she clamped down upon him, her inner muscles gripping tight. “Fuck! Em, baby, relax, honey. It’s okay, just feel me inside you. It will feel so damn good once you relax.” If it got any better than this she was going to pass out. The addictive burn heightened every time her inner muscles tightened, scorching her, stealing her sanity. She wanted him to move, to feel the drag over sensitive nerves. She wanted more, needed more, had reached the point where nothing mattered but the pleasure. Her groan felt like it had been ripped from deep inside her. Primal need echoed in the timbre. Three sets of ears heard her capitulation, three savage grins lit faces high with lust’s flush. “One word, that’s all it’s gonna take, darlin’. Just say ‘please.’” Ty craned his neck and blew on her glistening clit.

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Colby pressed the point, withdrawing his fingers until only the very tips tantalized her ass. “Say it, baby, and I’ll let you have the whole length.” Colby’s voice was strained, need riding him hard, but he continued to deny her. Zach just teased her mouth, letting her suck madly before leaving her tongue flickering in vain to reach his straining member. He held her hair brutally as he rubbed the silken head along her bottom lip. “Come on, honey, one word and you can have it all.” One word ripped from her throat, galvanizing three men to immediate action. Fingers plunged with fiery devastation into the depths of her clenching ass, hungry lips latched on to her sodden clit, sucking with absolute greed, and the steely length of Zach’s sinfultasting cock slid to nudge the back of her throat. Emma came. She screamed her pleasure around Zach, the vibrations sending him plunging to join her. His cruel hand made sure she swallowed every last drop of the scalding load he shot halfway down her throat. The constrictions as she swallowed pulled shudder after shudder out of him as his balls strived to turn inside out. No sooner did she release his spent cock than she felt herself lifted, vaguely heard the rip of foil. Colby lifted her to straddle him, his cock head popping through her entrance in a wash of hot cream. He gripped her hips and pulled her down relentlessly until her ass sat flush on his balls. Emma arched at the wicked stretch. He hadn’t given her time to adjust to his entry, but the touch of force only drove her higher. One big hand splayed between her shoulder blades, pushing her to lie on Colby’s chest, his driving thrusts not hampered by the position. She felt Ty close in behind her, felt a moment’s panic when she felt a nudge at her anus. But it wasn’t his cock being fed in to her, it was the damn vibrator. Colby stilled, holding her captive while Ty gave her a taste of the tantalizing forbidden pleasure of double penetration. Emma struggled to pull oxygen from the air as sensation assaulted her. The thin membrane separating the toy and Colby’s iron cock

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throbbed with a life of its own. The pinch of entry faded to unadulterated feeling of excess. Too much sensation, too much pleasure. A decadent, luxurious sentience like no other. She felt the soft touch of lips against the small of her back, felt more than heard his rough warning. “Hang on to her, Colb.” Ty turned the vibrator on. A thousand ripples of blinding sensation tore through her. Emma bucked and writhed on the twin impalements. Her swollen clit raked Colby’s root with every motion, an added allure she did not need to explode. Never before had she orgasmed without direct clitoral stimulation. It ripped through her silently, quaking her body with an intensity that left her breathless. Colby slammed her down on his cock as he came, the blunt head pushing against her cervix, begging for entry where there was none to be had. The relentless vibrations were unending, creating a circle of pleasure too devastating to bear. It was Ty’s growl as he yanked the toy from her grasping forbidden passage that pulled Emma from the maelstrom. He lifted her from his brother’s body, laying her face down across the burgundy sheet. **** Ty shoved a pillow under her hips and straddled her, her legs together between his hairy thighs. His seeking cock found its home in the wet, slick folds. He lodged the thick head with his fist and then dropped to his elbows over her, skin to skin contact robbing him of the last piece of his control. A truly animalistic grunt tore from his throat as he ruthlessly plunged, feeling the silk of her inner thighs as an added clasp. In this position he couldn’t go too deep, couldn’t hurt her. He let his demons have their heads and rode her hard. The plush mounds of her ass cushioned every brutal thrust. He nearly came as he thought of

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pounding into her untried ass like this, hard and unbridled, but pushed the thought away. Later, a silent promise. He licked and bit at her neck and shoulders, every whimper and cry driving him on. “Say it, Em, say what I want to hear.” Her inarticulate cry sent him over the edge, his hot seed exploding from him. He felt his hand grabbed by a smooth hand, felt her shove it under her body. The greedy little wench wanted more. He pinched her clit, finesse long gone. Her cunt grabbed at his sensitive cock and Emma stiffened. She screamed his name as she bucked beneath his weight, fighting the pleasure coursing through her veins. Ty collapsed, only just sliding to the side so his weight didn’t crush her. He laughed, breathless. “You’re gonna be the death of me darlin’.” He kissed her shoulder. “But you missed the vital lesson. You were supposed to say ‘please.’” Em smiled, sleepy but victorious. “I don’t know, ‘now’ had just the effect I was looking for.” “Wench.” Ty slapped her ass as he rose to clean up and dispose of the condom. “Don’t think that will work every time.” Emma yawned. “Betcha it does.” It was hardly audible, but three chuckles were heard. They knew she was right.

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Chapter 11 By the weekend, Emma’s nerves were completely shot. Saturday stretched on interminably toward two o’clock, the time they were due to arrive at the canyon cabin. At half past one, Emma ventured outside for the first time since she had arrived at the Whelans. The sunlight was bright to her unaccustomed eyes, but she drew deep the fresh air. Being cooped up inside had tested her patience. In the back of her mind sat the nagging sensation that someone was watching her. But for this plan to work, they needed someone to be watching her. So far the plan had run smooth. Ty had booked the cabin, and, as arranged by Andy, Callum had let it slip to the Marshalls. The archrivals had immediately informed every member of the Kinky Kat that the Whelans were taking their filly to the canyon to break her. If that hadn’t fueled the rumors enough, Colby and Zach had taken a very high profile trip to Aiden’s. They had near bought the store out. Colby had accidently dropped the bag in the aisle of the diner at seven o’clock on Friday night while half the town was congregated there for dinner before heading over to the Kat. If there was a resident of Liberty springs who didn’t know the Whelan boys were nailing Emma Duncan’s ass on Saturday night at the canyon cabin, they were deaf and blind or living on the moon. When Emma spoke to Ty about her sullied reputation, he had been understanding but adamant. “Your safety is more important to us than any reputation, darlin’. We catch this bastard, you get your life back, and we all get a future.”

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The last word scared Em. What was their future? Her sojourn in their home felt like a holiday, an impermanent stay. She had her own home, her own life. She doubted they would give up theirs and come and live with her, or even if they would, would it work? She needed her space, time alone in which to work, time to think. Ty, Colby, and Zach overwhelmed her. They took charge of her life with the same ease with which they took over her body. Her days had begun to revolve around their comings and goings as much as her nights did. Night after night they lavished attention upon her, driving her higher than ever before. Her body began to associate the fall of the darkness with pleasure. As the sun set her panties dampened. She knew how Pavlov’s dogs felt. The poor bastards had never stood a chance. They loaded her into Zach’s big dual cab. Zach left the Whelan Brothers’ Produce magnetic signs on just in case someone watching was a little dense. “Relax, darlin’.” Ty slid in beside her, leaving the other two in the front. “You can trust Andy. He’ll move heaven and earth to find this guy. All we have to do is go for a nice drive out to the cabin and wait.” “Can’t we play just a little bit?” Colby’s whine came from the front. “All these lovely toys here are just begging to be played with.” Em smiled and shook her head. The world could be ending and Colby would still be thinking about getting laid, but her look was eloquent and Colby turned back around. Ty reached out and tugged Em toward him. She went slowly, but the reluctance was feigned. Ty’s arms were the best place she could think of being. She snuggled in until her head rested comfortably on his chest, the strong beat of his heart beneath her ear. For this one small comfort she would nearly sacrifice her independence. Nearly. ****

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“Talk to me, Andy.” As soon as they passed the turnoff to the first cabin, Ty put his hand to the flesh-colored earbud and spoke. “Ty, everyone’s in place. One went in with the cleaning crew this morning and swept the place. It’s clean, but remember you will likely be under surveillance from a distance. You may have to put on a bit of a show to lure him in closer. We were careful to take up approach positions only. No one on team has a direct line of sight with the windows. Keep your eye out for traffic. We’ll keep you in the loop.” “Thanks, Andy.” The only vehicle they passed was the local contractor for the electricity company working on a pole just before the drive. Zach waved as they drove past and turned into the driveway. Five minutes later they pulled up in the garage adjoining the cabin. “Showtime,” Ty whispered in her ear as she rose from his chest. He saw the look of regret as she lifted from him. “If Andy nails this guy today, I promise I will spend all day tomorrow just holding you, darlin’. I’m getting just as addicted to it as you are. I’m sure my heart only beats when you’re lying there to hear it.” **** Em could only lean forward and kiss the big, dopey smile that graced his rugged face. There wasn’t much she wouldn’t do to see that smile. It made her feel valued and cherished. Loved. “Get out of that!” Zach teased, coming to open the door. “We’re meant to be big tough he-Doms today. None of that tender stuff until he’s gone.” That didn’t stop him from sticking his head in and claiming an equally gentle kiss. Colby complained, “That would be right, I’m getting the bags and you two get the kisses.” “You can have yours later,” she assured him, stepping out of the vehicle and containing the urge to check for their watcher.

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The cabin was one giant room. The only doors were for a toilet and storage cupboards. A fire crackled merrily in the open fireplace, warding off the minimal chill. In a place where one came to be naked, Emma presumed it was men who liked it to be warm. A woman’s body was improved by the cold. A man’s response was not so flattering. Emma stopped dead as she spotted the room’s distinguishing features. The solid timber and wrought iron bed was freaking huge. Ten people could sleep in it and not touch. Well, not quite ten, but it was the biggest bed Emma had ever seen. But it was only a bed. As was the whirlpool bath, big enough for six. It was the contraption before the large expanse of glass overlooking the isolated valley that held her attention. Suspended on a pulley system from the ceiling was a series of padded straps and loops. Emma eyed it suspiciously. “Don’t look at it like that, Em. I can make that swing your best friend in a matter of seconds. We gotta get us one of those for home.” Zach clearly found her trepidation amusing. Colby stowed their gear while Ty contacted Andy. Ty shook his head to Zach’s silent raise of eyebrows. “Well, darlin’, looks like we have got to put on a bit of a show after all.” He moved to Emma, turning her to face him, making sure she was looking at him. “Will you trust us to make this good for you, to protect you?” Her eyes were locked on the blindfold he held in his hands. It took a long time for her to relax and nod. “Good girl.” He pulled her to him, seizing her hair. It would have looked rough and commanding. It felt anything but. His lips begged at her mouth, pleading for her response, his fingers only fisted in her hair. The hand actually cupped her skull tenderly. His heart was in his eyes as he held her gaze, willing her to trust him, trust them. Emma saw the blindfold coming. Her heart raced, anxiety soaring, but Ty’s pleading gaze had her holding her ground. The last thing she

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saw was his slate eyes softening, love shining through, then there was darkness. Hands caressed her, smoothing her clothing from her body. The peasant blouse with the elastic gather was no barrier, the threequarter-length cargos fell away at their touch. Roughened hands, their touch worshipful, slid the thong from her hips. Ty. Dexterous fingers undid the hooks of her bra, teeth nibbling her nape. The heavy stubble gave Colby away. Fingers threaded through her hair, silken lips finding hers, Zach’s purely masculine taste swept through her mouth as his tongue was granted entrance. Her men. Even robbed of her sight she knew who did what. She knew their textures. Knew their touch. Their taste and their scent. The blindfold just made her more aware of what they did, and how they did it. Ty had slow hands, every touch deliberate and measured. His hands lingered, as though loath to lose the touch of her skin for one second. He also pandered to her love of stubble, dragging the growth of his beard against her tender skin, nuzzling whenever opportunity arose. Nipping teeth and a diabolical tongue belonged to the youngest brother. Colby liked to indulge his oral fixation. Emma loved the hungry little noises he made in his throat that turned her on to no end. Zach liked to tweak. He touched for response, to get a reaction. A kiss here, a pinch there, only if she grabbed him and held him in place would he give her more of the same. He played her body like an instrument, a musician searching for the perfect melody. They led her in a slow dance toward their goal. Cold straps were a shock against her skin as she was buckled into the contraption. Wide padded straps over her thighs, smaller ones at mid calf, tender lips kissed the nearly healed marks below. Upper arms were encircled as well before she felt a wide sling spread along her back.

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“We’re going to lift you now, sweet. Relax, Em, this is going to be so damn good.” Zach must have removed his shirt, for the kiss of springy hair met her shoulders before the hot skin of his chest. Scorching heat bathed her where he touched. His voice promised nefarious deeds. The sling cupped her body as she lifted, her weight distributed without pressure, like floating in space. Space perfumed with the spice of aroused male. The musk played around her in a tempting cloud. Rough hands parted her thighs. The rasp of denim told her Ty had not taken off his jeans. “I’m staying right here between you and that window, darlin’. No one gets to see you but us.” Emma relaxed, putting her trust in the big man and the size of his body. She would be just legs sticking out to anyone watching. Ty was just that damn big. A squeal was hastily swallowed when the swing lifted higher. “Mmm, that’s better, I won’t be getting sore knees today.” Stubble rubbed against her inner thighs gently and big hands gripped her hips. Emma wished she could see Ty. From her half-reclined position every swipe of his velvet tongue would be visible. She had never had the guts to watch him before, but now it was a burning need. A smooth-shaven face burrowed in on her neck, kissing, licking, biting. That was Zach and Ty accounted for. Colby’s absence made her nervous. “Where is Colb?” “Getting some toys ready. You should see him. He’s like a kid in a candy store. He’s just dyin’ to show you what you’re missing out on, hon.” Hands wrapped her ribs and slid slowly up to cup her breasts. Zach pinched the nipples hard and released, making her arch. “I can’t wait to see these hard little points with clamps on them. You love that bite of pain. It will just keep going with those.” The thought tightened her body, arousal building despite the circumstances. Her need for heavy handling had embarrassed her, but the brothers gloried in her darker needs, enjoyed helping her dance the wicked blade where pain and pleasure met.

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“Em definitely likes that idea. There’s a nice shine on all these lovely petals now.” Ty ran his finger down the crease where inner thigh met torso. He had been teasing her everywhere but had not touched her folds. Emma knew she would be close to begging before long. They knew just what buttons to press. Straining ears picked up Colby’s return. A hard kiss stamped across her lips. “Stop worrying, sweet. I’m gonna make this so fucking good you will be begging for it every time.” Emma didn’t know if he was talking about playing with his toy collection or the swing, but he didn’t give her time to worry. She was glad Zach’s hands held her steady because her upper body dropped backwards. Colby’s evil little chuckle made it clear who was responsible. “I want you where we can reach those lovely breasts of yours, Em. Big brother wants your pussy right where he can eat it, if he ever gets around to it, so just lay back and let us look after you.” His mouth descended on her breast, heat engulfing the hardened tip. Zach gave her no warning as he claimed the other. Twin pleasures rippled from nipple to womb, pooling in the gathering tide of ecstasy. It was so damn easy to forget there was a madman out there somewhere with nothing on his mind but her degradation. So easy to get lost in the pleasure these men heaped upon her. Hot, wet mouths and hard bodies, stubbled jaws and deep, rough whispers. Emma’s world narrowed. A slick tongue swept along her slit, splintering her awareness. Ty had finally decided to partake, to use his mouth where she so desperately wanted it instead of watching her cream. A cry ripped from her throat, blonde hair cascading as she let her head fall back. “Oh, darlin’, you look so damn good.” Rich and jagged, Ty’s voice rolled across her senses, as devastating as the lash of his tongue that followed. Zach’s head lifted, drawing the nipple out until it popped from his mouth. Hard fingers immediately started rolling the wet bud. “Suck it

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up, princess, this may bite to start with.” The gleeful tone had her on edge more than the words. Fire spewed from her breasts, her lungs pulling air in with an audible whoosh, as Zach clamped her left nipple. Endlessly the heat roiled as her body strived to cope with the sensory overload. She didn’t need his advice to “breathe.” As soon as she released the breath she held, the pain flowed, her body riding the waves of pleasure that morphed from the sweet agony. The ride had just gentled when Colby gave the other nipple a quick pinch. “My turn. Here it comes, sweetheart.” Fire ruled her world once more. Head back, Emma breathed through the flames engulfing her, steadily rising above the lick of agony to bathe in the sultry warmth of the exquisite burn. “Oh, Christ, that was so fucking hot! I knew she’d like it, but, damn!” Colby was beside himself, voice deepened by lust, his excitement palpable. Zach’s deep groan sounded painful, hunger easily discernable. “Let’s flip her over. I can’t wait to show her the rest.” Ty moaned complainingly from between her legs. He didn’t want to give up his place. “Not yet, let me make her come first.” “No, she’ll tighten up too much. Keep her on the edge.” Zach was adamant. Ty gave her clit one last sucking kiss. “Sorry, darlin’, I’ve been outvoted here.” Straps tightened and a little vertigo swamped her as the world tilted. Hands adjusted the sling that was around her back to her front. One padded section sat across her hips, the other just below her breasts. Surprisingly comfortable, Emma got a grip on Ty’s head as he stepped in closer. “What’s happening, Ty?” He must have known she wasn’t talking about what the delinquents were up to moving her legs where they pleased.

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“All quiet, Em. Andy’s looking after that. We get to look after you.” He kissed her deeply, the taste of her still on his lips, fresh, tangy. “I know who got the better deal.” “Grab a cushion if you don’t want sore knees, old man, we’re dropping her down.” “Who are they calling old?” Amusement colored the complaint. She let her hands drag down Ty’s body as they lowered her prone figure. They had placed her in a suspended forward kneel, as if she were on all fours, but with her hands gloriously free. When the descent stopped, her hands rested on the waist of Ty’s jeans. “Can you take me back up an inch or two?” She felt Ty’s hesitation then the deep breath he sucked in as he realized her intention. “That can be arranged,” he assured her dryly. She knew his gaze was riveted on her fingers unzipping his fly. “You steal my control, darlin’.” His voice was troubled. Emma could hear the conflict as wants, needs, and responsibilities blurred. “I’m supposed to be the one keeping my wits about me. That tempting little mouth is gonna make it pretty damn hard to concentrate if Andy contacts me.” His body had no such conflictions. Hot, turgid flesh sprang free, the skin unbelievably fine in her hands. Every miniscule difference in texture was readily apparent, the blindfold adding to her tactile powers. She felt her legs being spread wider, but Em paid it no mind as she let her lips follow the path her hands had taken. Faint musk filled her nostrils as the flat of her tongue swiped across the weeping eye. Experimentally she poked her tongue into the small fissure. Ty’s gasp brought a flush of new wetness to her folds. Zach dipped a thick finger into her slick cunt. “So nice and wet. Ty, clip these weights on the clamps would you? I reckon we can get her wetter.” He slid a second finger in beside the first, curving them to make her arch. “Do you want more of that bite, Em? When Ty puts these on, every move you make will make them swing. You’re gonna

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dance just to feel the burn.” Emma groaned softly at the heat in his words, the picture they conjured. She relaxed her throat and took Ty all the way to the back of her throat as he leaned over her, just once, to prove that she could. “Don’t be doing that, darlin’. I plan on being here for the long haul. I won’t last if you keep doing that.” Em didn’t want him to go early either. She worked him easily, teasingly, just enough to keep her tongue lapping greedily at the salty drops she wrought. Hot breath expelled over his shaft as the weights clipped onto her free-hanging breasts. New shards of pleasure erupted, lifting her above the plateau she floated on. “She likes that. Look at her dance.” Colby’s tone was reverent. His hands smoothed the length of her back before coming to rest on the firm globes of her ass. He gave one a resounding smack. The smart of the slap caused Emma to jolt, the weights to swing, and the heat in her ass to spread most deliciously to her pussy. The moment she could think beyond the haze she wiggled her ass for another. Colby was happy to oblige, leaving a matching heated handprint on the other cheek. “Think of how good that is going to feel when I slide a plug in your ass, Em. Your tits and ass are going to be burning so bad that pussy is gonna weep enough to put out the flames. Do you want that, Em, want me to show you?” “God, yes, anything, don’t stop.” She could sense something big hovering on the horizon. Over the last week she had learned you didn’t take shelter from the storm, you danced naked in the rain and welcomed the thunder. The cold shock of gel didn’t dampen her ardor. Steady fingers massaged it into her rosebud, not penetrating, just pressing until she relaxed. She could feel the weight of three sets of eyes on her most intimate place, knew they all watched Colby’s fingers press for admittance. Em breathed deep and willed her body to accept the intrusion.

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Ever so slowly his finger entered, every ridge of his knuckle teasing nerve-rich satin. The cock in her hand was forgotten as the incursion of Colby’s finger captured her undivided attention. Even the hand Zach had slid beneath to tweak her clit was background noise. He withdrew and collected more lube, making his entry much easier this time. He twisted that finger, pumping it slowly. He pulled back and slipped a second one in. She lifted from Ty’s cockhead as Colby drew a guttural moan from her. Mouth falling open slackly, Emma welcomed the harsh pinch of the larger impalement. “That’s the way, honey, let Colb have you. I can’t wait to see you open up around the plug.” Zach’s breath fell against the reddened cheek of her ass as he spoke. He bit her unceremoniously. Her involuntary squeal had little to do with pain. Colby’s slick fingers were replaced by the cooler rounded broadness of a soft plug. “This one has plenty of give to it, sweet. It’s gonna slide right in there and give you something to squeeze on. Take a breath for me, Em.” The burn flared white hot as her ass was stretched further than ever before. Slick and smooth, the latex toy sank deep, the widest point pushing her love of the edge to its boundary. Emma had just been about to cry off when it slipped through, lodging behind her inner ring of muscle, the flared base snugging into her crease. The feeling of being so full consumed her. Clamping down on the tickler, she rode the sensations ripping and roiling like a bronc out of the chute. Her breasts were once more afire as the weights jiggled with her rapture. Breathing was restricted to panting, her focus narrowed to her ass, and its rubbery invader. “Oh God, somebody fuck me. Please, I’ll say anything you want, I just need it to end.” Twisting and fighting the sensations sent them higher, more consuming, more devastating. “Shh, darlin’, we’ll give you what you need.” Ty’s voice reached her through the haze of pleasured pain, his hands rubbing against her cheek, soothing. “Let her have it, Zach, one little orgasm won’t hurt.”

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Her folds were split wide as a dildo slid into her entrance. The wide head let her know it was much larger than her one. The taper allowed it to work its way into her body, the gentle fucking motion jostling the plug in her ass as it made room for itself. Hands caressed her skin, smoothing strokes interspersed with sharp taps against her ass, pushing sensation to the limit. Moaning incoherently, Emma clutched Ty’s cock like a lifeline, the head sinking into her mouth with every slow forward thrust Zach made with the plastic cock. Crooned words of praise enveloped her, the sway of her suspended body lulled tortured nerves. Steadily she rose through the pleasure, striving toward the summit, but the need wasn’t as urgent now. Her grip on Ty weakened as her consciousness faded, a strange lassitude over coming her. She floated in the sensual world they created, body no longer actively seeking pleasure but a passive vessel. Taking everything they heaped upon her, soaking it up, accepting. **** Colby’s hand came down hard on her ass but only provoked a moan. “We did it, she has finally let go. She’s in sub-space. As long as we keep it going, she will stay there.” Ty tucked his hard dick away. “We got company coming. The electricity guy has just headed down the drive.” He placed a finger to the receiving unit. “Have you done a background check on him, Andy?” “Fuck! Get your guys in here now. It has got to be him.” His finger left the button. “Zach, get a blanket for Em.” He unbuckled straps as he spoke, determined to protect her modesty as well as her life. Zach slipped the dildo from her wet sheath and pulled a coverlet from the back of the lounge.

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The sound of shots being fired ripped through the silence. “Get her into the kitchen,” Ty roared. The nook would afford some protection. **** Shattering glass and roaring voices broke through the haze. Her hands batted at her breasts. “Shh, Em, let me get them for you.” Zach’s hands made quick work of removing the clamps. Emma winced when the blood flooded the tender buds, lancing pain no longer edged by pleasure. Tears soaked the blindfold as the pain broke through the tenuous emotional hold she had on the aftermath of her submission. Weak, broken, in need of comfort. “Oh, baby girl.” Zach’s heart sounded like it was breaking as he held her close, huddled on the floor of the kitchen. “What’s going on, Ty? Em needs you, man.” “They got him! They got the son of a bitch!” “Ty, you need to be here right now.” Zach was sounding frantic. Emma tried to get her hands free, twisting and turning. Zach noticed her discomfort. “It’s okay. We’ll get it out in a second.” “Christ, Zach, what’s wrong?” Colby peered over the edge. “This is not a good time for her to come out of it. The place is going to be crawling with cops in a minute.” “Pass her here.” Emma felt herself pulled against Ty’s hard chest, the plug shifting uncomfortably. What had been erotic only minutes ago was now a painful embarrassment, its goad felt even through her emotional depletion. “Hang on, darlin’. Let Zach take the plug out.” Humiliation bit deep as the object was tugged from her body and a damp cloth run over her. Ty pushed the blindfold up, but Emma refused to open her eyes, burrowing into Ty’s neck, soaking it with silent tears.

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“Andy, now is not a good time. Here, talk to Zach.” He passed the earbud over, his attention solely on the woman crying soundlessly in his arms. Tuning out to the noise as others entered the cabin, Emma heard only Ty’s voice, its deep comfort rolling through her as he told her the abductor had been found. That everything was going to be okay. “I want to go home, Ty.” “We’ll all go in just a few minutes. Zach and Colb are talking to Andy.” He kissed her temple. “My house, Ty, I want to go to my house.” Misery coated every word.

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Chapter 12 “When are you going to wake up and smell the roses, girl? It has been three weeks. Whatever those boys did wrong, I think you’ve punished them enough.” Emma pushed back from the computer to regard Beth. “It is not punishment, Beth. We are not compatible, that’s all there is to it.” “They don’t seem to agree. They’re all moping around like someone kicked their puppy. At least talk to them, I’m getting sick of saying you’re not here when they call.” “We have nothing to talk about.” “I guess you’ll find out this morning when the feed comes if that is true,” Beth harrumphed, heading for the next room. “This morning? Where’s Ron?” Beth’s husband was meant to be here for that. “I could say he is sick, but you can deal with the truth. He wants you to talk to those lads, too.” “Fuck it.” “Yep, those are the words I told him you’d say.” Beth hummed as she bent to plug in the vacuum. The drone of the machine cut off any reply Emma might have made. The chime from the front gate went off a little after eleven. Emma buzzed Colby through as soon as she saw the truck on the surveillance camera. Absolutely no one had the new access code bar her and Beth. Emma checked in the mirror before heading down to unlock the barn. In jeans and a T-shirt she wasn’t dressed to impress. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore no makeup. Even she

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thought she looked tired. She shrugged and strode for the door, unemotional and business like. Colby sat in the flat-top truck and watched her punch in the code on the new lock on the barn. Emma could feel those blue eyes follow every move she made. He drove into the loading dock as soon as she slid the double doors back. When he stepped out of the truck Emma was already undoing the straps securing the mixed load. She expected his gaze to settle on her ass sticking out where she bent to do the straps, but his eyes remained on her face. “Hi, Em.” His voice was scratchy, unsure. “Colby.” Emma didn’t look up. Those blue eyes of his would be her undoing. She reached for the next strap, but her hand fell on hard male skin. Colby had beaten her to it. She snatched her hand back, but the damage had been done. The feel of his skin coated hers and big blue eyes filled up her vision. The pain in his eyes rivaled any she had felt over the last month. “Emma, sweetheart, we need you. You gotta let us talk to you. Ty hasn’t spoken a frigging word in two weeks, he hasn’t been eating, and he’s hardly sleeping. He’s a fucking mess. It doesn’t matter what happened, Em, we can get past it. We need to. You’re a part of us now.” “Get past it, huh?” Anger sparked despite the soulful blue eyes holding her captive. “You lot tie me up, blindfold me, push me to a point where I don’t know what way is up while some madman is trying to take a shot at you? Andy told me Hawkins was after you three. “To make it worse I come up out of that senseless state y’all put me in, and I’ve got clamps on my tits and something jammed in my ass. Sorry, Colby, but that is going to take a little getting past.” “Getting you to where you wouldn’t catch a bullet was more important than getting the plug out, Em.” Colby ran hands through his messy hair in frustration. “If we could do it all over again, we would have done things differently. Hell, if I’d known this was gonna

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happen, that I would be losing you, I would never have even taken your clothes off, Em. We should have pretended. But I can’t control it around you, Em. I see you and I want you, that is all there is to it.” “Maybe you should start thinking with big head instead of little head, then?” “That’s what Ty said.” She remembered Ty screening her in front of the windows, his big body blocking her from view. A chilling thought ran through her. “You knew! You fucking knew he was after you lot and not me!” Andy had told her of an e-mail to her they had intercepted stating that Hawkins would be removing the men from her life who weren’t treating her “right.” She shuddered to think of his definition of right. “Andy told Ty about it. He-man neglected to fill us in. We were more than a little angry, too, sweet.” Emma thought of that gorgeous big body taking a bullet for those he loved. Her heart swelled even as tears spilled wet and hot down her cheeks. **** Colby pulled her to him, unable to watch her cry. “It’s okay, sweet. He is all right, we’re all okay. We just want you back so bad.” His eyes closed as he savored the feel of her in his arms. He looked down as he felt a shudder run through her. It took him a minute to realize that it was laughter bubbling through, soggy and tear-stained but laughter just the same. “What’s so funny, love?” “Only a Whelan could have a hard-on while waiting to catch a bullet.” “For you we’d get it up on our deathbed,” he assured her, joy building in his heart that she was in his arms and able to laugh. He backed up until his ass rested against the bank of feed bins.

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“I gotta sit down, Em. My legs have gone weak. I thought I would never get to hold you again.” His arms wrapped tighter around her, as if he was determined to make them one flesh. “We sure as hell don’t deserve you, but will you give us a chance? Anything it takes, we’ll do it. We just want you to be a part of our lives.” Her fingers flexed where they fisted the front of his shirt. He watched her pull herself together, marshalling her thoughts. “I want to, Colb, I really do, but I’m scared. Scared of what you do to me. I can’t give up control like that, and not know what you do to me. It was too much, too fast.” “I’m sorry, sweet, I thought you were there with us all the way.” “My body might have been, Colb, but I don’t let my body make the decisions.” Her tone supplied what she did not say, “unlike some.” “Hey, Zach and I only thought this guy was trying to get a peek. Me and him have never been accused of being shy, and Ty had you covered. I didn’t see any harm in playing a bit.” “A bit?” “Okay, so I got a little carried away. You just responded so sweetly, Em. Even trained subs don’t react as well as you. It blew my mind.” “Played with a few of those, have you?” “We’ve had our share.” He saw no need to deny their past. “There are a few videos around at home if you want to see.” **** The thought of seeing any of the brothers with another woman made her blood boil and claws ache. “I’ll pass,” she said dryly. “I was only offering. I have nothing to hide from you, Em. You want to know something, just ask. Some things I’m not real proud of, but I’ll tell you anyway.”

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A niggling thought struck her from the night she had spent at the Kinky Kat. “What did you forfeit against the Marshalls?” He chuckled wickedly. “Heard about that, did you?” Her nod rubbed against the wall of his chest. “Every year at the Kat we have a little competition. Cal and Connor know the owner of a slightly different club over in Denver that specializes in D&S. They send over subs for us to play with once a month. Scores are given for originality, number of orgasms, things like that. The pairs’ competition had been narrowed down to me and Zach versus the Marshalls. We forfeited when we decided you were the woman for us.” “That was short notice for the gig.” “Short? Honey, they gave us two months to practice.” Emma was silent as she realized just how serious the Whelan’s had been in her pursuit. Two months before they had so much as laid a hand on her they had decided she was the one for them. And forfeited against Brody and Luke? She had seen the interaction between the younger Whelans and their next-door neighbors. They were like a pair of young bulls butting through a fence, all attitude and bad manners. They wouldn’t give up a chance for victory over them easily. “So it was only a matter of time?” “Sweetheart, you didn’t stand a chance.” He squeezed her tighter before tilting her back so he could see her face. “At least I got first kiss. I’m surprised big brother didn’t have something to say about that.” The way she froze must have given away the error of his thought. “He beat me to it, didn’t he?” He shook his head ruefully when Emma nodded. “He tasted you first and he didn’t even tell us. I’m gonna slap him one up the side of his head for that one.” “Stand in line.” Emma had a score she wanted to settle with the big man, too. How dare he think he could risk his life like that? It was hers, goddamnit. Colby smiled at the possessive gleam that came into Emma’s eyes. “Come home with me and belt him one. It will do him good.”

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Emma smiled at the picture that presented. She doubted Ty would even blink, but it would make her feel better. “How about we get the feed off first?” Colby just grinned. **** Breathless anticipation gripped Eliza like a dream’s sweet clutch. Rafe’s dark, battle-hardened hands skimmed over alabaster skin, and his passion-labored breath heated her fevered body, licking over the heaving mounds of her pale breasts. The nudge of his tumescent manhood on her silken inner thigh branded her frazzled senses. There was no going back this time. She was leaving girlhood behind and exercising her rights as a woman. A woman who wanted her man, no matter the cost. If the sun did not rise in the morn, at least Eliza would know what it was like to lie beneath the hard masculinity of Rafe Dunbury. The glorious rapture of his heated lips, the devastating surety of his wicked hands. So hard and yet so tender. Even as he slid into her untried sheath, there was caring heat in his stormy eyes. Steeled for the pain to come, Eliza could only marvel at the gentleness of the powerful man who could snap her like a twig. A gasp escaped her slender throat as he breached her maidenhead. White-hot pain swept through her, startling her with its intensity. He ate the cry from her mouth, stilling as he waited with tightly bridled need for her to adjust to his intrusion… Ty slammed the book shut as he heard the front door open and shut. He hadn’t expected either of his brothers home for hours yet. If Colby caught him reading the book again he would know for sure Emma had written it. He dragged himself from the lounge to see what Colb was doing in the kitchen and was surprised when he met him in the doorway.

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“What did Coach Hall used to drill into us?” Colby’s blue eyes sparkled with mischief. “Duck and weave,” Ty answered automatically, scratching the weeks’ worth of beard on his face, more than a little confused. “Now might be a good time to remember that. I’m heading out the back. Yell if you need me.” Ty watched his brother saunter past, a spring in his step he’d not seen for weeks. Perplexed, he headed into the kitchen. His heart raced as he saw Emma standing by the table, eyes on the police report Andy had dropped by earlier. The report that told of a man’s descent into madness when his wife had left him, leading him to blame the books she had been reading instead of his vile abuse. Abuse that he had suffered as a child. Hope burgeoned for the first time in weeks. “Emma.” “You! You are in so much trouble, mister.” Her head came up and she came toward him, bristling with righteous anger. The heel of her hand slammed into the middle of his chest, knocking him back half a step. “How dare you set yourself up to be shot at! You are mine! You have no right to risk your life.” Every statement was punctuated by another forceful whack to his chest. She backed him up against the wall. “Don’t you ever do anything like that again!” Hope blossomed into pure joy with every slam of her little hand. She could belt him around all she wanted if it meant having her back in his life. Ty couldn’t help the smile that grew on his face as her possessive words sank home. Damn right, he was hers! It had taken her long enough to figure that out. “I could lie and say I won’t, but I’ll always stand between you and anything that means you harm, darlin’.” He saw her eyes soften briefly before her temper flared again. “See, that’s the high-handed crap that landed you in this predicament to start with. This is supposed to be a relationship, not a dictatorship. Not the three big he-men know what’s best for the little lady.

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“A partnership, Ty. That means you ask before you make decisions that affect all of us. That means you don’t use sex to distract me from what’s really going on. And that sure as hell means you don’t subject me to kinky sex and leave me high and dry.” The smile grew on his bearded face. She was pissed she hadn’t got her orgasm that afternoon? He bent and scooped her into his arms, ignoring the fist that pounded into his well-padded shoulder. “That I can remedy right now.” He sealed off her ranting to be put down with his lips. Her moan of surrender swept through him like wildfire, hot and devastating. She tasted so sweet, felt so right in his arms. He wrapped one low under her buttocks to support her as the other held her chest to chest. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to keep her right where she was. The fist that had been tenderizing his shoulder relaxed and slid to splay at his nape, small and feminine against the width of his neck. The other swept up to hold his cheek, moving softly. He could tell she was testing the texture of his scruffy beard. He felt like a slob for not shaving. “Sorry, darlin’. If I’d known you were coming I would have cleaned up my act.” Emma nuzzled in cat like against his cheek. “Feels good, rough but smooth, kind of tickly.” She was even purring deep in her throat. The sound went straight to his loins and wrapped around his cock. “I’ll rub it all over you, darlin’,” he promised, loving the way she writhed at his words. “This doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you, Ty.” “I’ll spend a lifetime making it up to you.” He reclaimed her mouth. It was probably best if he kept her from talking. He licked under her top lip, nipped at the bottom, and drew on her tongue gently when she swept it into his mouth. Did all the little things he’d learned she enjoyed. His heart swelled right alongside his cock as he brought her to readiness with just a kiss.

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He walked her to the breakfast bar and lowered her ass onto it. His arm swept away the papers that littered it before he grasped the bottom of her shirt. He put his forehead to hers, grinning as he silently asked for permission. Emma nipped his lip and raised her arms compliantly. Ty held back a groan as the shirt went sailing. Her lush breasts, thrust upwards by the plain black bra she wore, captured his attention. His big hands slid to her waist, feeling her suck in a breath at his touch before slipping to her back to undo the clasp. He fumbled, fingers not cooperating. Emma bent her arms back awkwardly. “I’ll do it.” But he brushed them away. “It’s okay, I’ll get it,” he assured her, leaning closer, drawing her against him so he could see over her shoulder. “I haven’t had as much practice at this as the other two, but I will learn.” It gave way to his determination eventually. He dropped a slow kiss on the red mark left by each strap as he lowered it off her shoulders. Bra gone, he dipped her back until she lay along the bench. “Oh, darlin’, this is the best feast I’ve ever had laid out on here.” His eyes swept from her face to where her knees hooked over the edge before locking on her rose-tipped breasts. He watched them pucker beneath his gaze and couldn’t wait to have the hard little nipples under his tongue. “So responsive. They always get so hard.” He bent and ran his tongue from her navel to her collarbone. The tang of her skin rolled about his mouth, tempting him further, but Ty remembered his promise. He ran his chin back down the path his tongue had taken and rubbed against her belly like a cat scent marking. “Oh, God, that feels fucking unbelievable.” Her belly quaked as she spoke, muscles twitching at his touch. She let her hands fall back beside her head. Ty took that for the invitation it was. He teased the sensitive skin beneath each breast, lips and tongue a stark contrast to the rub of his bearded jaw. The smell of her skin

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drugged him, the vanilla undertones of her bodywash mixed with the natural scent of woman. Soft and submissive with a core of steel. His hands cupped her breasts, lifted them, and pushed them together. He sucked in a big breath when he saw how deep her cleavage could become. How he wished to cover the magnificent handfuls in oil and thrust between them, to see his cockhead pop out from between the lush mounds, to watch his seed spill across their slippery slopes. Ty knew his eyes had bled to desire-ridden black when Emma startled, her amber orbs widening as her breath came faster. She always burned hotter when her lover let her know he appreciated her. She only had to see one of them was hard, and her need grew to match. So much woman, so full of fire! It was a fucking crime for her sensuality to go untapped. Well, not anymore, there would be no more holding back. He lowered his head slowly. Slits of amber watched his progress. The flat of his tongue swept across the hard nubs he had pushed together before he laid a big sucking kiss atop them. Her hands fisting in his hair demanded more. He gloried in the pull on his scalp as she tugged his attention to rest solely on one breast. He held its twin, thumbing the nipple leisurely. Ty smiled as she arched to his mouth, trying to get him to take more, to suck deeper, but he rolled the nipple beneath his tongue, feeling the hard little point stiffen further. His lips closed around the ruched bud, tongue flickering. Her groan of frustration was music to his ears. “For God’s sake, Ty. Suck it.” Her imperious demand made him smile. Then he struck. Lips opening wide, he took as much of her breast in his mouth as he could and drew deep. Her cry of surprise turned into a gurgle of contentment as he gave her just what she craved. Ty

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rolled the other nipple fiercely. Her cries reaching orgasm pitch so quickly egged him on. Could she come from this alone? He worked her nipple against the roof of his mouth, tongue flickering through the suction, but she stayed on the cusp. It was going to take more to push her over. He slid one big hand down to cup her mound. That easily, she came. A cry ripped from her throat, her body arched into his hungry mouth, and her hips circled wantonly against his hand. Tortured bliss painted her features as she shuddered her way through the climax. Ty felt like a god. “That’s one, darlin’, but there’s three weeks’ interest to pay. I think we can do better than that.” He knew his voice was rough, ragged with the lust for her riding him Her amber eyes were heavily hooded as she lifted her hips, allowing him to slide the denim from her body. Ty hooked his fingers in the elastic of her panties and ripped them. The sound of silk rending loomed loud, crashing over the draw of desperate breaths. He felt a juvenile thrill. That was something he had always wanted to try. The heated surprise that flared in Emma’s eyes made it worthwhile. Ty grinned and laid a kiss beside the endearing dimple of her navel. He wasn’t always the quiet one. He could do wild and reckless, too, with the correct provocation. And the most righteous reason he had ever had was lying before him, spread out for his pleasure. And it was his pleasure to give her pleasure. He dragged his rough beard down her inner thigh, teasing himself with the aroma of her ripe pussy. He could see the wetness glistening on her folds, the engorged petals peeking past her plump lips. He collected one leg, kissing the inside of her knee before bending it to lay her foot on the bench. She wiggled back to give them more room as he did the same to the other. He rose up to look at the vision

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of wantonness spread wide before him. It was so fucking beautiful it took his breath away. As his head descended, Emma pushed herself up on to her elbows, watching him beneath slitted lids. He grinned in appreciation of her audacity, his blood surging southward. The little wildcat was going to be the death of him. Exsanguination was a real threat to his brain, but not so his cock. It pounded fiercely with each beat of his heart behind its denim prison, fully engorged, and still his frantic body tried to pump more in. Hovering a painful inch from her dripping folds, he blew air into the nest of dark curls adorning the apex of her freshly shaven pussy. He groaned as she twisted in his grip. The best of both worlds, crisp curls to nuzzle through and smooth wet folds just crying out for the touch of his mouth. He rolled his eyes to watch her as his tongue lashed out. The way her teeth trapped that damn bottom lip made him smile. She only did that when she was trying to hold back noise. “Let it all out, Em. I want to hear every little sound you make.” A deep groan rumbled from her as he set his open mouth atop her pussy, slurping at her nectar. He wrung whimpers and moans from her as he unleashed his mouth, sucking, licking, and nuzzling. He speared his tongue into her dripping cunt, swirling it deep. A tongue that continued downward, delving between the cheeks he cupped in his strong-fingered hands. Her cries became higher as he gently rimmed her forbidden hole, lavishing every pleasure he could upon her. Her hips bucked wildly as he penetrated the tight entrance with the wet tip of his tongue. Amber eyes slid shut, lost to the illicit caress. One last lick and he returned to the cream-drenched pearl of her clit, capturing it in his mouth, his chin pressed against her entrance. The way she writhed toward him reassured him his beard wasn’t a problem. He wanted to hear her scream, hear her let her pleasure out for his gratification. He grazed delicate membranes with his teeth, carefully, delicately, before suckling in earnest.

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He did not let up when she arched and screamed but drove her on, not stopping until she was a shuddering mass of satisfied jelly in his grip. He tore himself away from the sight of her quivering flesh and straightened up, pulling her into his arms. His heart was trying to find its way out of his chest with all the fervor of the cock pounding behind his zipper. Emma was breathless, her body searching for oxygen, chest heaving in his tender hold. “Did that hit the spot, darlin’? I can keep going if you want.” He smiled as she shook her head quickly. “I’m done. I don’t think I’ll ever come again.” “Now that’s a challenge no red-blooded man could refuse.” He rocked his denim bound erection against her. “I’d love to see you go, though. I’m on birth control now, Ty. The doctor gave me the shot when I was in there last time. I want to watch you slide naked inside me.” His knees went weak at that declaration, but his hands went to his shirt. He heard one seam tear as he wrenched it off over his head. His pants were around his ankles in five seconds flat. “You’re sure, darlin’? Birth control can fail.” “That’s a risk I’m prepared to take,” she assured him, eyes locked on his weeping cock. She gasped in his ear as he picked her up and shuffled toward the wall. Common sense taunted him that he should have taken his boots off, but he just didn’t give a fuck. He was about to slide into a woman, his woman, the way nature intended, nothing between his flesh and hers but the fluids of their mutual arousal. Hard fingers clenched on the giving flesh in his hands as he backed her into the wall. “Lay back there, and you can watch all you want.” One by one he lifted his hands and placed her legs so her knees hooked over his elbows and splayed her wide, his big hands still cupping the sweet roundness of her rear.

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He tilted her hips away from the wall, lining her up with the erection that had risen above horizontal, pointing the way it wished to go. He kissed her hard and then leant his head against hers, both sets of eyes resting hungrily on their flesh that was about to become one. She sucked in her breath as his cockhead kissed her swollen cunt, but the groan was all his as he pushed through the slick portal and her juices flowed over his bare skin, sweeter than heaven and hotter than the gates of hell. “So fuckin’ good.” He pushed in all the way, watched her body take him in, welcome his intrusion. As the last piece of light between them was banished he kissed her, deeply, as if his very life depended on plundering her mouth. The summery taste of her pussy echoed back at him, making him hungry for more. Gasping for breath, he pulled away, touching their foreheads together once more. “Watch, darlin’, watch me love you.” He slid all the way from her hot embrace, letting her tight gate tug at his rim for a sweet eternity before he pulled free. He could feel her gaze burning his cock as he slid back in. Again and again he repeated the taunting full withdrawal, wanting to relish the scorching intimacy, the smoldering carnality. It was good. It was too damn good. With a curse he plunged deep and repositioned his hands. He wanted her close, wanted to feel the full body embrace as her legs wrapped his hips and her breasts rubbed his skin. He pounded relentlessly. Her wet, malleable flesh took all he had and welcomed more. “Oh, God, Ty. I’m gonna come,” Emma wailed. “Come for me, Em, let me feel you milk me.” He felt her motions become more circular as she strived to climax. He helped her, grinding into her harshly as his cum began to boil, surging up his steely shaft. The first spasm squeezed his cock as his load shot from it, bathing her womb with fiery jets of molten seed. Again and again she clenched him as his release ripped through him, his back arching with

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the power of his spend. He shuddered as she melted around him, her body going boneless with exhaustion and pleasure. Un-fucking-believable. He staggered back into a kitchen chair, legs too weak to stand. Emma didn’t seem to mind. She just snuggled closer, her heartbeat faster and lighter than the prominent thud of his, a symphony of repletion he could get used to. He held her tight as they both relearned how to breathe, absorbing the feel of skin on skin. Sweat clung to their bodies. Ty felt a little tongue taste the beaded moisture on his collarbone and smiled. Emma was becoming a real sensualist. Taste, texture, smell, she wanted to experience it all. “Ty?” “Mmm?” “I’ve discovered there is a real downside to you not taking the wet patch with you.” “There is?” Emma wriggled and he felt moisture track down his balls. Oh. That downside. “Small price to pay,” he assured her. “I can tell you’re not the one who has to go home with no panties.” Sharp teeth nipped at his chest. “Come on. We’ll go and have a shower.” Ty laughed at the comical way she screwed up her nose as he uncoupled their bodies. That was a mess to be proud of. He hiked up his jeans enough to toe his boots off and followed Emma’s bare ass to the shower. Hell, he’d follow that anywhere. Colby’s voice reached him from the back door. “Are Mommy and Daddy finished making up? Can I come back in now?” Ty laughed and ignored him, pulling the bathroom door closed. How long the idiot would wait outside was anybody’s guess. ****

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Tucked into her big bed all by herself again, Emma nonetheless had a smile on her face. She had lost count of the orgasms Ty had wrung from her body this afternoon. She should be exhausted, but happiness kept her awake. She hadn’t realized just how much the Whelans had become central to her existence. Her life truly hadn’t been complete without them. So why wasn’t she in their bed? Circumstances had moved their relationship on at the speed of light. Emma wanted to lay back and savor the journey, to create memories and experience the thrill of anticipation without the threat of a madman hanging over her head. Hawkins was gone. He was under heavy guard in intensive care. It was not known if he would pull through or not. No less than four slugs had been dug out of him. Two of those were Andy Calhoun’s. She had closed that chapter of her life. Blank pages awaited, anxious for ink. If they all were filled with the passion and heat of this afternoon, it would be a short book but a steamy one. But it wasn’t the sex alone. It was time spent working with a lover’s head on her lap, it was listening to the beat of another’s heart as they watched a movie. It was being teased and ribbed about burning breakfast. The small intimacies that formed the foundation of any successful relationship. After showering with Ty this afternoon, she had found her clothes neatly folded on the bed. Colby must have put them there, but he didn’t try to get a bit, too, the way she thought he might. He just kissed her temple as she was leaving and asked if he could call her tomorrow. Even Zach, who had pulled in the drive as she was getting in the Beemer, just gave her a quick hug and said he would see her later. The pressure was gone, and she was free to proceed at her own pace. The only problem was that her body had a different idea of a leisurely courtship than her mind did.

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Secret yearnings would surface. The need to be totally possessed, to feel the heat of her men fill her in every way possible, to have them slake their lusts upon her and drive her to that very point she feared. The one where all thought was lost and only the most submissive part of her brain held sway. She wanted them to trigger that primitive female survival mechanism that welcomed a conquering horde with open arms and open legs. In a primordial world where the fittest thrived, the stronger a mate, the stronger the child. A female had to be conquered to be convinced her mate was worthy. Emma knew that it was only a matter of time, but she wanted to drag every inch of pleasure out of the journey. And in this case there was a whole stack of inches to go around. That thought put a bigger smile on her face, one that still curled her lips as slumber took her.

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Chapter 13 Zach smiled widely into the security camera as he waited for Emma to buzz him through the gate, a warm breeze blowing through the open window. He had every reason to. He had beat Colby out of bed this morning and given Emma a call to ask her if she would like to go for a drive with him this afternoon. It had been a truly evil grin on his face when Colby had gotten off the phone an hour later after asking her exactly the same thing. All was fair in love and war. He had been smiling since Colb had called yesterday to tell him he was sitting outside listening to the sweetest sound on God’s green earth. It hadn’t taken him more than two seconds to work out what that was. His main amazement had been that Colb was outside at all. The youngest Whelan just didn’t have that kind of self control, but Zach was proud he had contained his need for instant gratification on that occasion. It had been Ty that won her heart first. It was only fair that he get to handle the making up bit. Although Zach would have loved to see Em put the bruise on the big bastard’s chest that he had flashed with such pride this morning. It had taken every ounce of Zach’s self control not to take a swing when he had learned exactly why Ty had been screening Emma and most of their bodies. He had no use for martyrs and nor, apparently, did Emma. The gates slid back on well-oiled hinges, admitting him to the graveled drive. He drove straight up to the house, parking in front of

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the main entrance. His eyes nearly fell out of his head when Emma appeared wearing a flirty little sundress. Not once in the three years Em had lived in the Springs had he seen her in a dress. He’d seen her wear shorts in summer, but never a dress or skirt. He leaned over and opened the door. If he got out to do it he’d have her up against the side of the truck in a heartbeat, balls deep and to hell with whoever might see them. “Get that look off your face, Zach Whelan,” she demanded, climbing in without flashing him once, much to his disappointment. “What look?” He tried for innocence but fell far short. “The big-bad-wolf-eyeing-off-the-little-lamb look.” Hazel eyes pinned him with an arch little look, but he could see amusement hovering around the corners of her glossy lips. “This is that look?” “Uh-huh.” Yep, that was definitely amusement. “Don’t hold me responsible. You do look good enough to eat.” Her endearing blush shot straight to his heart. Emma sniffed and ignored him. “So where are we going?” she asked as he headed back down the drive. “For a drive.” She gave that reply the look it deserved. Zach grinned before expounding, “Have you ever been to the caves?” He was pleased when she shook her head. “There’s a selfguided tour there. I thought we might start with that.” Emma looked down at what she was wearing, her smile rueful. “At least I wore flats.” Zach followed her gaze all the way down her shapely leg to the cork-bottomed sandal and promptly veered off the driveway. “Watch the road!” He veered back on. “Sorry, hon. I’m a little distracted. That’s a lovely dress.” “Maybe we should go back so I can change into jeans.”

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Zach thought about what it was going to be like helping her up the ladders. “No, the dress is just fine.” “You’re wearing that look again, Zach.” Resolutely he watched the road. “How’s your hand today?” He saw her rub the heel automatically before dropping it to her lap. “It’s fine.” Her voice was distinctly dry, daring him to continue that line of questioning. He left it alone. “How is the new book coming along?” He looked for a subject that would get his mind off pulling over and finding out what she was wearing under that dress. “Back on track, I should have it ready for the first edit next week.” He didn’t have to ask what had taken it off track. All of their work had suffered during her absence too. “Who does the editing?” “Beth has first read and she is great for story line work. She always picks up any discrepancies I’ve missed.” “I know she doesn’t miss a trick.” Zach had quite a few memories of being caught out when up to no good. “And after we work through her suggestions, it goes to my editor for proper editing. Occasionally I have to do rewrites of sections, and then it goes off to the publishers.” “Who are they?” “Nice try.” “I thought so.” He smiled as he turned off on the back road leading to the caves. She was just so much fun to be around. He loved her little laugh, her sense of humor, and God knew he loved looking at her. His world was so much better for her being a part of it. “Did you set Colby up this morning?” That was definitely accusation there. “I wouldn’t say I set him up. There was just a small breakdown in communications.” How one raised eyebrow could convey amused disbelief was a mystery to him. “As in…?”

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“As in I neglected to communicate at all.” He made sure that was accompanied by his best smile, the one that could melt the frostiest old matron. “I see. I thought that might have been the case. That’s why I said I would spend all day tomorrow with him.” “No wonder he didn’t say anything, the little shit.” “It might teach you to play fair. I am not a bone to be fought over, you know.” “No, you’re much more succulent than that.” “Zach!” “Ouch! No wonder Ty’s all bruised up. You don’t hit like a girl,” he accused, cradling his ribs. “My father made sure I could look after myself. He spent a fortune on self-defense lessons.” Zach loved the wicked little grin that curled her lips. “There is nothing quite as satisfying as belting the living shit out of some asshole who desperately needs it.” “Nothing?” Zach’s eyebrows quirked as he pulled into a parking slot at the cave’s sparsely populated car park. Midweek, the tourist destination saw a lot less traffic than on weekends and school holidays, and other than the ranger’s vehicle, not one of the others parked there were locals. “Well, almost nothing.” Red kissed her cheeks, and her hazel eyes sparkled as she opened the door and stepped down from his truck. Zach refrained from rubbing his hands together with glee like some cartoon villain. This was going to be so much fun. He grabbed the small pack off the parcel shelf and followed the gaily painted dress swishing toward the reception office. He caught up as she read the signs on the window. “I’ll be right back.” Zach promised her, big hand sliding across her hip as he passed. He almost missed a step when he didn’t feel any panty line and he heard her snigger.

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He had a little trouble with the door. Push versus pull was nuclear physics caliber when all your blood had just attempted to migrate in one fell swoop. He was blinking back at her when Jory Raines cleared his throat, laughter crinkling the big forest ranger’s face. Zach shook his head. He was just amusing the fuck out of everyone today. “Two for the self-guided. Thanks, Jory, and a little privacy up at the pool.” He slid a twenty across with the entrance fee. “One pool out of order sign coming up.” Jory winked and hit the switch that activated the “no access” signage. “I heard you forfeited.” He craned his neck to look out the window where Emma was reading the brochures. “But you have my complete understanding. If I had something like that I wouldn’t be playing at the Kat either.” “I heard you took out the singles again. Congratulations.” Jory Raines was legendary at the club. He and his voice were more devastating to a sub than two average men and a chest full of toys. He was a master of the mental aspect of BDSM. “A walk in the park, my friend. The only one who can give me a run for my money is Andy, and he won’t play since he got busted up. He just won’t listen when you tell him it don’t matter none. I gotta admit, though, it does make a man feel good to knock off all the young bucks. I might be getting on a bit, but I’ve still got it.” Zach held back a laugh. Jory was only five years older than Ty. “But you enjoy yourself. I’ll make sure the group of schoolkids doesn’t stumble on to you.” “I’d appreciate that.” “Oh, and there is a new camera at the top of the choke.” Jory reached out and tapped a button, bringing up a surveillance shot of a ladder top. “Thanks for the warning. That still leaves twenty foot of unobserved ladder. I am sure we’ll manage.” Zach replied with a grin before heading out to Emma, tokens for the admittance barrier tucked into his pocket.

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He reached out and snagged her hand. “Let’s go. You’re not claustrophobic, are you?” “No. Just how small is this cave?” He laughed at her concern. “This one is plenty big enough. There is just one tight spot where we move up to the next chamber. I’d hate for you to panic as we go through.” Especially for what he had planned in it. A long ladder through a crystal rock chimney, dimly lit with prisms of light floating about on gossamer wings. One curvy woman in a short dress with possibly no underwear, and him below for support. His mind was overrun by possibilities. Just teasing ones. The grand finale would wait for the pool. He pulled her closer as they walked down to the dark hole in the mountain, his lips quirking. “There’s that smile again, Zach,” Emma warned, but her smile said she didn’t care. Zach bent down and kissed the lips so accessible with that saucy lift of her chin. He didn’t miss a beat but he had to hold her firm when she stumbled. That made his day. Clutching the pack slung over his shoulder a little harder, he ground his teeth together to contain the laughter that wanted to bubble out. Emma made him feel alive. Not just him, either. He had never seen Ty as happy as he was with Emma in their lives. The big bastard had actually been singing in the shower this morning. Deep and full-throated, “How Do You Like Me Now?!” had rumbled through the house at 5:00 a.m. As alarm clocks went it wasn’t bad. Even as he’d drifted back to sleep, Zach had smiled to hear Ty happy. Colby hadn’t been as appreciative. Something had slammed against the inside of his door along with a muted roar, completely indecipherable, but its “shut the fuck up” message had come through loud and clear.

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“That’s a different smile. What is so amusing?” Once again that chin was tilted back up. “Do you really want to know, or do you just want another kiss?” he teased, fishing the tokens out of his pocket. “I always want to know, but I’ll settle for the kiss.” Zach grinned at her honesty and swooped, pulling her close as he sipped at her lips, ignoring her efforts to deepen it. The two small hands that clutched at his just-long-enough hair were having none of that. He knew if he tried to pull away he would have bald spots or one determined, curvy woman dangling from his head. He smiled and gave her the deep, satisfying kiss she was looking for. The way she blinked when he raised his head made him feel ten feet tall and bulletproof. “Come on. We had better get inside before we give Jory something to really look at.” He waved at the camera overlooking the gated entrance. Emma glanced up and blushed, ducking her head. Anger flared when he groped her ass where the camera was sure to see. “You look cute when you’re embarrassed,” he whispered in her ear, “but you’re hot when you’re mad.” Zach grunted as her elbow took him low in the gut. “Any lower and I’d have you kissing that better.” Emma laughed at his threat. “Any lower and you would be a blubbering mess on the ground.” She slid her hand from his and slipped it into his back pocket, squeezing his ass as her hip nudged his thigh. “I wouldn’t do that to you, Zach. Well, not without really good provocation,” she clarified. “Just remember that if you decide to do anything to piss me right off.” She shivered as they stepped into the relative coolness of the cave’s entrance. Zach dropped the pack to the ground and took off the unbuttoned long sleeve shirt he was wearing over a tight gray T-shirt. “Here, put this on.”

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He loved the way her eyes swept over his chest with appreciation before thanking him. And the way her nipples strained against the material of both dress and bra as they pebbled from the cold. He knew she was wearing a bra, but the panty question was still up in the air. She wasn’t a no-panty type of girl. Perhaps a thong? He bit his lip at the thought of seeing a scrap of material disappearing between the globes of that fine ass. He didn’t need the amused shake of her head to let him know that thought showed through loud and clear. He picked up the pack and reclaimed her hand, knowing that she would be pissed if she knew just how small and delicate her hand felt in his grip, and just how much he liked that. Looking at the cathedral-sized ceiling of the cave conveniently hid his expression from her until he was able to school his features. She was just too damn perceptive. She led him from one sign to the next, reading about the geology of limestone caves and the different formations they would see. He was happy to follow. He must have been through here countless times from the time he was a child of ten, but her excitement made it all seem new. The outer cavern was not very spectacular. Stained with smoke from a millennia of being used as a human shelter, the limestone was discolored and tired looking. Zach was pleased when Emma finished her perusal. He led her to the handrail-sided steps that led into the cave proper. Away from prying eyes she only curled her lips when his hand slid to caress her ass on the way up the dozen steps, and he knew he wasn’t imagining the extra swoosh she put into her step. He tapped her ass lightly. “Hussy.” “I thought being a slut was a prerequisite for having a relationship with three men.” Her teasing tone tempered the gall that rose at her remark. He stopped her on the step above, turning her to face him, claiming both hands. “Don’t you ever call yourself that. You are a special woman who has found room in her life for us. If you were a

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slut, honey, we would have nailed you and moved on the first week you moved to the Springs. “I love the brazen little flirt we’re finding buried under the barbed-wire wit that has kept us at arm’s length for so long. Even more so because no one knows she exists except for us. “Don’t ever belittle what we have, honey. It takes a special woman to put up with the three of us. We almost blew it, but now we have a second chance. Life is too fucking short to get caught up on labels.” His look was hard as his gaze bored into hers, waiting for her to understand. He breathed a sigh of relief when the hazel eyes softened. “I don’t know why I said that, Zach. Hell, I know I’m not. I am just not quite comfortable with the new me that keeps peeking out.” “Let her out, Em. When there is only you and us it doesn’t matter. We don’t judge you, honey. You can say or do anything. It will probably get you laid in an awful hurry, but we won’t mind a bit.” He released her hands to rest his own on her hips. “Even if I said right here, right now?” Amber eyes shined with heated mischief. His cock pounded its approval, but his brain coached caution. “I’m game if you are, honey, but there are cameras everywhere in this stretch. I don’t want to share your secrets with Jory.” “Secrets?” “What you have on under that dress.” Gray eyes locked on her groin, his meaning unmistakable. “Got you thinking, has it?” He loved seeing her so sure of her power as a woman. “You have no idea, baby.” She leaned forward and licked along his lips, a blatant tease. “It’s purple lace and there’s not much of it. And I want it in one piece at the end of the day.” She turned and walked up the remaining stairs, swishing her ass as she went.

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His cock castigated him on his course of action, but Zach resolutely adjusted the monster behind his fly and followed. He knew they would be in the Choke in ten minutes, and he’d have that purple lace in his teeth come hell or high water. She was tempting the beast within. Minerals dissolved in the limestone colored the brilliantly lighted flow formations lining the second chamber with shadings of peach and red. “No touching” signs were everywhere. For all their ageless permanence, limestone caves were a delicate living thing, constantly growing and changing. Oils on a person’s hand could erode or discolor the rock. Zach watched Em put her hands behind her back as she looked longingly at the slick looking walls. The pull to touch to see if it was wet or just looked it had affected him each time he had entered the cave. He moved in behind her, close enough that her spring-scented hair tickled his nose when he bent over her and her fingers clutched so tightly behind her ass tickled his thighs. “Later there is a spot where you can touch”—he nuzzled into the bend of her neck, resolutely keeping his hands at his sides—“and so can I.” If he touched her now they would be giving Jory a show after all. The little shudder that ran through her at his words sorely tested his resolve, as did the earthy scent of aroused woman drifting up amid vanilla-spiced spring. “Take me there.” It was not a request. Zach seized her hand and would have been dragging her toward the Choke if she wasn’t trying to beat him. Like two schoolkids they ran hand in hand past phallic stalagmites, huge columns, and more flowstone. Emma was breathless with more than exertion when Zach pulled up beside the ladder disappearing into the poorly lit natural chimney.

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“You are in so much trouble, Em.” The way her amber eyes darkened to the deep promise of his voice made Zach’s mouth water in anticipation. “Up the ladder, baby.” The smile curling her lips heated his blood further. Such wanton wickedness! He started up the ladder as soon as her legs cleared his head. His plans did not include copping one of her feet in his jaw. When he gauged she had reached the narrowest part of the Choke he grasped her ankle, inordinately pleased that she only let out a little girly squeal instead of kicking wildly. “You just stay right there, hon. Get a good grip of that ladder and let me have my way with you. The big, bad wolf just caught the baby lamb.” He kissed the inside of her slender ankle and laid a trail of them up to her knee, stepping onto the next rung as he came up. “On a ladder, Zach? I must have lost my mind.” He could only smile when her legs widened to afford him better access. He took hold of one of her feet and placed it on a boulder wedged in the space beside the ladder, very much like placing a standing woman’s foot on a chair. She was as good as bound as she had to keep both hands on the ladder to keep her balance. Completely at his mercy. The low moan as his head pushed under the skirt and he laid an open-mouth kiss on the back of her raised thigh made him doubt the wisdom of that thought. Exactly who was at the mercy of who was yet to be seen. Ever closer to her fragrant pussy his mouth played, licking and nipping. The touted purple lace scraped his nose. He did what he promised himself and seized it in his teeth just where it dived into the cleft of her buttocks. Tugging relentlessly, he slid his mouth down the material until he reached the part that was drenched with her cream. He groaned as her taste flooded his senses, causing her to writhe over his mouth when the vibrations tickled her folds. Teeth were just not up to the job if she needed those panties in one piece. He raised one hand from the iron rung and pulled the side down

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off her hip. Emma cooperated, lowering her raised leg and wriggling to get them off. Zach nearly fell off the ladder when she added her own variation to his little cunnilingus-on-the-ladder scenario. She pivoted, turning her back to the ladder and lifting her leg to rest on his shoulder. Both arms were raised above her head as she looked down at him with heated anticipation. “You’re gonna be the death of me, baby.” He reached up and tucked the front of the skirt up under the bottom of her bra, leaving her exposed so sweetly from the waist down. Her cry as he rubbed his sandpapery cheek against the thigh draped over his shoulder made him hope to hell Jory didn’t have audio on those damn cameras. The last thing he needed was a well-meaning rescue squad coming to save the dying woman. Fuck ’em, they’d just have to wait ’til he finished. He laid his upper lip against the top of her slit before his tongue flickered out, landing with devastating precision on her engorged little clit. “Hard and fast, or slow and steady?” Deep and echoic, his voice drifted up the crystalline tunnel. “I don’t care. I just want it now.” She nudged her hips as far toward his face as her precarious perch would allow. Zach chuckled at her predictability. She was as bad as Colby with her need for instant gratification. It was just as well they were both good for more than once. He had seen Colb go three times in one session, but he knew Em was good for more than that. Hard and fast it was. He closed his lips over her clit and suckled ruthlessly, delighted when she leaned into his touch instead of pulling away. She loved that edge of “too much” that came with hard loving, gloried in it. He couldn’t wait until she embraced that need fully. “Oh, Christ, don’t stop!” Zach withheld the need to laugh at her absurd warning. As if that was going to happen. He hastened the rhythm of his sucking, wanting to feel that fresh rush of wetness that

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he could then lap up at his leisure when the storm of her need had passed. The high pitch keening was abruptly cut off as she bucked wildly against his mouth. He could see the little teeth biting that bottom lip in his mind’s eye, restraining her cry of release. The moment she relaxed he let go of her clit and began reaping his reward. Slick cream coated her pussy, rich and tangy. He lapped and laved at her folds until she began moving against him once more, her hungry little noises playing against his ears. This time he teased, teased and taunted until she begged, “Please, Zach, just a little harder, let me come.” Her heel thumped demandingly against his back when he continued his unhurried exploration, apparently unmoved by her pleas. He knew she would start demanding just as soon as her mind’s inhibitions matched that of her pushy body. He smiled wickedly as he swiped his tongue across her fevered clit. Having her on this ladder was as good as having her tied up and at his mercy. All she could do was arch her hips and press him closer with her little, sandal-clad foot. As it struck him a little harder, he was thankful she wasn’t wearing boots. “Now, Zach! Suck it harder, no, back where you were, aaghh!” Her frustration was music to his ears as he deliberately ignored all her efforts to get him to make a frontal assault on her clit. “What’s wrong, greedy girl? You’ve had one. It’s my turn to play.” He nipped her inner thigh. “If you don’t let me come…” “You’ll what? You’re stuck up there, honey. Not a great deal you can do about it.” Even he could hear the smug satisfaction in his voice. “Yeah? Try this on for size, cowboy.” Her right arm lowered, slim fingers snaking down, sliding through the springy patch of curls.

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“Fuck, yeah!” Zach was spellbound as he watched those fingers circle the swollen bud of her clit, getting nice and wet before they attacked the nub. He knew he should stop her. Stealing orgasms was highly frowned upon by the Dom in him, but the man was captivated. “God, yes, show me how you work it. When I get you out of here I’m gonna fuck you so hard, baby. That’s it, be a bad girl.” His eyes followed as she dipped those fingers down to thrust into her entrance before they continued the assault on her clit. “Let me taste you, baby. Give me those fingers.” He latched on to the slim digits she extended, hot tongue caressing their length as his mouth suckled in a blatant imitation of what he wished her mouth was doing to his cock right now. The groan that drew from her had him gripping the steel rung hard enough to leave imprints as he strived not to spill his seed right then. He released her fingers and nipped them. “Go at it, Em, baby. Show me how you come.” He watched transfixed as she worked her clit rapidly, listening to her soft cries rise in intensity. “That’s it, push yourself over.” Her head went back as the orgasm took her, her face slack with pleasure. Her cries escalated into a dying scream that echoed in the narrow tunnel. He rested his mouth against the hand that cupped her mons, extending her rapture. So fucking sweet! He came within a hair’s breadth of spending in his jeans as he watched her take her pleasure. When he finally got her to the spring, it was going to be his turn for hard and fast, because right now he wasn’t capable of any other kind. Burning hot and fit to burst, his cock shouted its demands, and Emma’s little show had weakened him to the point where the rest of him was listening, and in total agreement. Burying balls deep in her snug little cunt had just become more important than breathing. “… Miss, it was back here. I definitely heard someone scream...”

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Absolute silence reigned in the Choke as the youthful voice reached them. Then Emma started to giggle. Zach struggled to keep it together as he quickly tugged Emma’s dress back where it belonged. The little wench had picked a fine time to give into a giggle fit. He thought about pulling her back down, but that would put them further from his goal of the mineral pool. He goosed her to hurry her up the ladder, shaking his head when she only giggled harder. Jory must have been laughing his ass off right about now. A group of around a dozen schoolkids was waiting in the chamber above. He held the pack to screen the obvious erection straining his jeans and tried to look nonchalant. Emma had contained her mirth to some degree, but her face looked exactly what it was, the face of a woman who had been well pleasured and was looking for another round. “See, Miss, I told you I heard something.” The young teacher looked over the couple and a knowing smile curled her lips as she spotted purple lace hanging out of Zach’s front pocket before he could hide it. “Yes, Timothy, but as you can see everyone is just fine. Come along, let’s continue.” She ushered the children forward, giving an amused but apologetic smile to them before she turned away. Zach glanced around and located the camera. It may have been a little childish, but he felt a lot better after giving it the bird. Emma nearly collapsed against him as her unrestrained giggles reached cosmic proportions. “I’m glad you found that amusing.” He could only watch as she tried to pull herself together, the sight warming his heart. “Come on, you. You’re worse than a drunk on Saturday night.” He guided her in the direction the kids had gone, chuckling at the laughter that kept spilling from her. They slipped under a no-access barrier, much to Emma’s consternation. Zach just put his finger to her lips to quiet her as he pulled a flashlight out of his pack. Guided by the thin beam of light,

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he led her for five minutes along the narrow crevice before she could see the glow of daylight up ahead. He felt her hand relax in his as soon as she saw the light. At least the worry had cured her giggle fit. For that he was glad. Making love to a woman who kept bursting into laughter might be a tad off-putting. Though with the state of his cock, he really didn’t think he would have cared. He watched her blink as she took in the pool chamber for the first time. The beauty of it never failed to impress. Water bubbled up out of a fissure in the ground, an extraordinary blue with minerals. Years ago the cave management had plastered the edges and put in steps to form a pool constantly filled with mineral rich water heated in the depths of the earth. A spillway led over the edge and disappeared into a crystal-lined natural drain. The rock arch over the top was plain limestone, slick with rising steam. Vegetation grew thick and lush in the warm, moist microenvironment. Crags rose in front of the covered area, ensuring total privacy. “This is beautiful.” Wonder lit Emma’s voice as she looked around. Zach dropped the pack and toed off his shoes. The socks and his shirt had disappeared by the time Emma turned around. Her eyes locked on his hands where they slid the waist button from its mooring. “What are you doing?” “Getting naked.” He gave her a big smile as he dropped the jeans to the ground. Not that she would have noticed. Her eyes were firmly locked on the lust-darkened flesh defying gravity. He wrapped a big hand around the shaft and worked his thumb across the prominent blood vessels ridging along the length. His gray eyes darkened as he watched reason leave her, hunger overriding all else. “That is so wrong.” The yearning tone belied her words. “What is?” He wanted to hear her give voice to her lusts. “That watching you do that makes me weak.” “Makes you weak or makes you want to join in?”

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“Both.” She walked close enough to touch. One finger reached out and rolled the bead of fluid around his broad cockhead. Zach’s hand reached out and tugged at the bodice of her dress. “You’re a little overdressed, love.” Her eyes didn’t leave the slow action of his hand as she absently slipped the dress over her head. She didn’t need to be told to get rid of the bra. It, too, joined the pile at her feet. Zach gripped the thick base and squeezed hard enough to force back the flood of seed that had started its journey at the sight of her full, lush breasts in the afternoon light. Hard, peaked, and swollen, they thrust up as if begging for his mouth. But the way her tongue was moistening her lips told him he would have to wait for that particular delight. He watched Emma drop to her knees atop her forgotten dress with awe. The hunger riding her was equal to his own as her fingers gripped his thick thighs. Her tongue darted out and sampled the trail of pre-cum leaking from his weeping eye. He nearly spurted all over her face when her eyes closed, his flavor meeting her approval. He wanted to watch her mouth close around him, wanted to see the dusky head disappear between her swollen lips. One hand threaded through her hair, holding her captive while the other wrapped his cock. He looked down at her as he rubbed the blood-darkened head along the parted seam of her lips. Arousal built as she obediently opened, wetting her lips for his pleasure. He pushed into her mouth, her lips stretching around his girth. He sucked in a desperate breath as the scrape of teeth grated deliciously along his flange. She had worked out the little things that turned him on to no end so damned quick. One little reaction and she had it. She knew just what buttons to press to bring him undone. He was already teetering on the brink. It wasn’t going to be a minute before he was shooting his load down her throat no matter his good intentions.

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“This first one’s going to be quick, hon, but it is going to be a long afternoon. I’ll make it up to you.” He began to thrust between her parted lips, spurred on by the goading lashes of her slick tongue. She pulled at his grip of her hair, endeavoring to take more, to take him deeper. He threw caution to the wind and let her have her head. Deep and fast, she took him to the back of her throat and swallowed before the gag reflex could kick in. Amber glinted under her heavy lashes, and he knew she watched him as surely as he had been watching her in the Choke. He let her see it all. All the dark deeds that haunted his thoughts, screaming for leave to be enacted, every scrap of her lavish pleasure his hungry body soaked up like a sponge, and all the love his heart held for her. “So damn good. You set me on fire, Em. I’m gonna come in that hot little mouth. Oh, that’s it, keep moaning around me. Here it comes,” he warned, watching her eyes darken until he was forced to shut his tight. Pleasure tightened every muscle of his body as fire licked along his spine and erupted upward from his balls. The velvet of Emma’s tongue was bathed in the salty tide he flooded her mouth with. She suckled, drawing every last drop from the rock-hard shaft. Greedy, hungry, sexier than hell. Even when he was reduced to boneless shivers, she licked lazily at him, little cat-like laps that went sweetly with the purr coming from her throat. He pulled her to her feet and cradled her against him. Her nipples were hard points grazing him, reminding him that her hunger was not yet sated. As soon as he could hear above the pounding of his heart, he guided Emma to the pool, stepping into the hot, mineral-rich water before helping her in. He walked the half dozen paces to the other side and sat on the ledge, pulling her onto his lap. “You are amazing, Em. Just sit here a minute and I’ll do whatever your heart desires. Just let me hold you while I catch my breath.” He felt her smile against his shoulder as she straddled his hips.

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“I’m glad that one wasn’t interrupted. I might not have laughed if little Timothy stumbled across me on my knees.” “I’m glad too. Those teeth of yours are a little sharp to brave during an Emma Duncan giggle fit.” “Giggle fit?” She tickled his ribs and growled, mauling at his neck mercilessly. Zach ended that the only way he knew he was assured of success. He lifted her until her breasts were at mouth height and latched on. He suckled as if nursing, deep, rhythmical pulls that took every ounce of tickle out of the wench. She moaned and clutched his head to her, encouraging him with breathy little moans. A protest tore from her lips when he released one breast only to be replaced by a heady groan as he captured the other hard nipple and engulfed it. The urgency gone, he could play with her breasts forever. He loved how her pussy pushed against his stomach with every strong suck. He knew if he had his fingers inside her he would feel the clasp of her hot walls tighten as well. He held off on that. As wet as water was, it took away a woman’s natural lubrication. He’d happily wear his dick to a stub for her pleasure but it would be uncomfortable for her, too. He slipped deeper into the water until her breasts bobbed, made buoyant by the mineral-rich water. Tongue flicking at the engorged nipples, he waited until he knew she was watching and snapped strong white teeth at her. Her squeal was drowned out by his deep laughter when she pulled away. He herded her toward the steps leading out on the far side, his cock surging with renewed interest. She gripped the handrail, about to make a run for it when he grabbed her hips. “Where are you going, little lamb? The big, bad wolf is hungry again.” Emma’s squeal turned to a moan as the hand that slapped her bare ass slid between her thighs, cupping her mons. A gush of moisture slicked her water-wet folds, welcoming his touch. “I love

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how wet you get for me, Em. I want to slide into you. You stay right there like that.” He reached past her and fumbled with the pack. The front pocket yielded a foil-wrapped package. A small hand wrapped around his. “You don’t need that, Zach.” When he got past his shock, he could see the certainty that sparkled in her eyes. “Lord, I’ve never done this before.” “Never?” Emma sounded shocked. “Never, that’s why we always get a clean bill of health.” He nipped her bare shoulder. “What about you?” “Only once.” “Ty beat us again, didn’t he?” “Sorry.” Emma sounded guilty. “Hey, don’t be like that. He is my brother and I love him. That he is willing to share the woman he loves with his brothers is enough for me. What about you, Em, can you love us all, too?” “I already do, Zach,” she said softly. “I can’t stand being without any of you.” “That makes my day, baby girl, as much as sliding in here as bare as the day I was born will.” He slid his fingers in and out of her sheath, feeling her syrupy wetness coat them. He lifted her leg and placed it on the next step up, leaving her wide open. One big hand in the middle of her back encouraged her to lean over and her pink-hued pussy was exposed to his view. He knew he should taste her again, bring her to the point of no return with his mouth, but the allure of sliding into her bareback blew his mind. It was all he could do not to plunge right in without taking the time to watch his bare cock spread her folds. The plum-sized head looked obscenely large pressing against the entrance to her tight cunt, her scalding wetness branding him forevermore. “Christ, you’re so wet, so tight. You’re burning me, baby.”

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“More, Zach, let me feel you inside me.” She tried to push back and impale her willing flesh on the spear of his cock, but he held her firm with one big hand. “Not yet, Em. I’m not rushing for love or money. It’s not every day I get a first to enjoy. And believe me, honey, I’m enjoying this.” He pulled back and pushed his cockhead through her grasping entrance again, feeling every little nuance that latex, however thin, obscured. Subtle changes in texture he had previously only felt with sensitive fingertips, blazing heat, and divine wetness all bombarded the organ forging with gratuitous slowness into her pussy. “Come on, Zach, I want it all. Nice and deep, please.” Panted words reached him, but he already knew she was getting desperate. Her nectar was running down his shaft and coating his balls. With more of a grimace than a smile, he pushed once to the hilt, loving the wail that drew from her, but then he resumed the shallow stroking. His eyes glued to the now slick width of his cock burying half its darkened length with each leisurely stroke, Zach gloried in the frustrated noises that had nearly reached snarling status. Emma leaned down further, one hand supporting her on the top step. Her intentions became clear when the other headed straight for her neglected clit. Zach smiled wickedly. He had just the cure for that. He coated his finger in her copious fluids and laid it atop the pucker slightly distorted from his grip on her buttocks. The slick digit pressed warningly. “You use your finger and I’ll use mine.” His voice was more of a dare than a threat. He felt her fingers graze his shaft. “I don’t care. I need to come.” If she thought he looked like the big, bad wolf before, his grin would have made her bolt now. He slid his finger into her dark hole, pumping slowly. She tightened on him automatically, but soon she groaned and relaxed, pink visible around the digit. He collected more moisture and advanced, the stroke of his cock readily felt through the thin separating membrane. He could even feel the flange of his cock push past the pad of his finger.

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He closed his eyes and reveled in the sounds coming from Emma’s throat and the hot, tight clasp of her body. It was only when her cry of “That’s it, nice and deep, oh, God, so fucking good!” reached his ears that he realized he had sunk balls deep inside her tight, wet cunt. Emma’s fingers jiggled against the drawn-up orbs as she worked her clit with desperation. Suddenly, feeling her come around the twin impalements became more important than his next breath. “That’s it, baby girl. Come for me. I want to feel you come.” He twisted his finger and drove his cock in hard, pushing against her cervix. The small pain sent her over. Sweet, tight constrictions gripped his cock as her cunt spasmed, but he could count the powerful contractions around his finger as the already too snug passage tightened like an epileptic vise. He had planned on pushing her on, desperate to keep the glorious sensation of her coming around his bare cock going for as long as his sanity allowed, but the wench had other ideas. She abandoned her quivering clit and seized his balls. Caressing and squeezing and stroking his perineum, her voice urged him on. “I want to feel you come inside me. Let me feel it. Please, Zach. Hot and hard, I want it now.” Refusal wasn’t an option. His body reacted to her heated demands before his mind had a chance to have a say in the matter. Two hard, selfish thrusts, and he was lost. Endlessly his seed spewed forth, the added fluids lost amid the fresh wash her orgasm had released. Jerking helplessly, Zach was more than a little surprised when he felt her ass clutch his finger once more, his cock too lost in its own pleasure to feel the new wave of hers. He strained against her, making sure she received her pleasure in full. Only when her cries died away did he withdraw his finger and collapse over her, skin to skin, feeling hearts race and ribs expand as air was sucked in to depleted lungs.

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“Holy shit! That was unbelievable.” Zach’s pride was a little damaged that Emma found breath to talk before he was able. The best he could do was to make an agreeable mumble against the damp skin of her shoulder. “I love feeling you against me, Zach, but I’ve got to sit down. My knees keep shaking.” He forced himself to move and his softening cock slid wetly from her body. He sunk and sat sideways on the bottom step, water up to his chest and his back against the side of the pool. Emma came willingly when he tugged her down to his lap, snuggling her head into his shoulder. She fit as if made to order. Only when they heard a distant PA system announcing that the gates would be locked in half an hour did they drag themselves from the water, all wrinkled and prune-like but too happy to care. When they passed through the turnstiles on the way back to the car park, Jory’s grin made it clear he had not missed their close call with the school children. Zach knew there would be hell to pay over that later. Jory never could resist telling a story to get a laugh, especially if it was at someone else’s expense. Zach couldn’t wait for the day he had something over him. Payback was a bitch.

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Chapter 14 “This is the safe end. The other end goes bang.” Colby held the .22 Browning up for Emma to see. “Rule number one. Stay on the safe end and don’t point the noisy end at anything you don’t want dead.” Her eyes sparkled with excitement, and he congratulated himself for thinking to take her to the firing range for the morning. He loved putting a few rounds through his babies, but it was more fun to go with someone else. Ty or Zach would come with him occasionally, but neither was as keen as he. Emma was showing definite promise at becoming his new shooting buddy. “This is the safety, slide, and hammer. The clip goes in here. This is the trigger,” he explained with her hanging on every word. His big hands moved with practiced ease over the small caliber pistol as he pointed and worked the mechanisms. “Why is that one different?” Emma pointed at another handgun in the custom case. “That’s a revolver. We’ll get to that one later.” He chuckled at the thought of her little hands wrapped around the big .44 magnum. “Okay, we’ll dry fire to get you used to it.” He ran her through the process. Slide in the clip in, pull the slide, point, and squeeze. While she was slightly tentative, she didn’t handle the pistol like it was going to bite her. “Okay, now you do it by yourself a couple of times.” He stood back and watched. “No, not the teacup grip. Both hands, thumbs together and high, that’s it.” Damn! That was a nice little ass wiggle as she found a balanced stance.

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This morning he had hitched a lift with Beth to Emma’s house nice and early, determined to wake her with pleasure, slowly and sweetly, but the little wench had let him creep right up to the side of her great big bed before letting him know she was awake. He was still smarting over the “you can’t creep for shit” comment she had greeted him with. At least he had enjoyed a bit of a snuggle before she had disappeared into the bathroom questioning his sanity for wanting to kiss her, morning breath and all. Morning breath? Women sure were strange creatures. “Ready to do it for real?” He held the box of ammunition up. “Yeah!” He dropped a kiss on her smiling lips as he took the empty Browning from her. Ten rounds took only seconds to thumb into the magazine. He held the clip as he ran a circle target out to fifteen, a good distance for a beginner. “Okay, here’s your clip. You have ten bullets. Put your ear protection on and let the target have it. Squeeze, don’t pull. Any squeals can and will be held against you for further embarrassment.” He slipped his own muffs on and watched her closely. While he was observing for safety reasons, there was just something about a good-looking woman with a firearm that captured part of him completely. Yep, that part. His eyes were a little too fixed on her ass to notice her slip into a practiced stance, but his ears didn’t deceive him. Ten rounds in ten seconds exploded on the deserted range. He watched with disbelief as she expertly cleared the weapon and laid it on the table. “Clear.” He could see the mocking little grin playing around the corners of her lips as he picked his jaw up off the ground. He was speechless. He stuttered a few times before shaking his head and retrieving the target. His head was still shaking as he blinked at the evidence of her betrayal. Nine of the shots were clustered around the center in a group no larger than his fist. The other was dead center but a little high.

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“Oh! You’re such a good teacher, Colb.” Hazel eyes sparkled with mischief. “You didn’t tell me you could shoot!” “You didn’t ask.” She draped her hands behind his neck and tugged him down. Colby couldn’t help but smile when she laid apologetic little kisses around his neck and jaw. “I couldn’t help it. You were so cute when you started teaching me as if I was five years old, which is, for the record, the age Daddy first put a .22 in my little hands.” She bumped against his crotch, snugging her belly in on his erection. “If you want to see something that will really stir your blood, hand me the revolver and run it out to forty.” “You can use the .44?” His dick surged at the thought. “Just call me Dirty Harry.” Her lips tasted of the strawberry gloss she had applied earlier and mint from her toothpaste lingered yet. Colby couldn’t get enough. “Christ, woman! I’m not going to be able to hit the wide side of a house. My blood’s pounding too hard to keep my hands steady.” “Excuses, excuses,” she taunted before nipping his lip and stepping back. Colby couldn’t believe his luck. He’d wanted a shooting partner, but damn! Watching her fire the big Smith and Wesson was a revelation. It was too big for her hands, but she got it in a high and tight, thumbsforward grip and rolled her shoulders, taking a wider stance that made his cock sit up and beg. The recoil lifted her hands above head height but she brought it straight back down, firing the instant the sights lined up on the target. When the sixth shot fired she flicked the cylinder out and cleared the chambers, brass littering the ground. It took longer to run the target back in, but Colby could see from where they were that the center of the target no longer existed. A 240 grain projectile traveling at 1500 feet per second will stop for pretty much nothing. A sheet of paper didn’t stand a chance, even against the lighter target loads he was using.

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The morning flew by. They took turns, trading weapons and keeping score. Emma didn’t like his Heckler and Koch 9mm, and he had to admit the long slack on the trigger took some getting used to. He beat her by a small margin with both it and the Browning, but he couldn’t best her with the .44. She loved that gun. He could see it every time she picked it up. She glowed. There was no other term for it. She’d wrap her hands around the grip and it was the same power-ridden high he saw every time she got hold of one of their cocks. All woman and loving it. He confiscated the guns and packed them away before he violated any range laws. He was certain they had one somewhere about doing an armed woman up against the table. His cock shouted its need to bury inside her, but he had carefully censored its demands since he was fourteen and had discovered that his dick was severely stupid. Well, most of the time anyway. Occasionally big head still followed little head, especially when little head wasn’t so little. And if the arch little looks he kept catching were any indication, the little wench knew exactly the effect she had on him too. He needed to get her somewhere she could make good on all the promises those amber eyes had been making, but with the way her stomach was growling, he had better feed her first. He gave the range master a wave as he escorted her to his truck with more speed than grace. They grabbed some drive-up because Colby wouldn’t leave his guns unattended in the vehicle. As they drove down to the river he promised to take her someplace where they didn’t ask if you wanted fries with that next time, but Emma wasn’t at all concerned They sat on the tailgate of her pickup, sipping soda and wolfing down greasy burgers. Colby watched her eating with gusto and thanked God she wasn’t one of those women who picked at their food. She did feed most of her fries to the duck family that congregated around them at the first sign of food, but he couldn’t blame her. They were cute, little, fluffy things.

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“I had a great time this morning, Colb. Thank you.” Genuine appreciation was written all over her. “Any time, Em, I enjoyed it too.” “I noticed.” Her eyes flickered to his groin, and a distinctly feminine smile lit her face. “Looks like that will get you in trouble,” he promised, packing their rubbish into one bag. She only grinned wider. “How many people come down here during the week?” He knew she was trying for casual but the way her nipples were striving to poke holes in that shirt said otherwise. “You rarely get anyone until after three. Why?” “Then there will be nobody around to hear you scream.” She pushed him back, taking hold of his wrists and pushing them down beside his head. He went willingly, enthralled in the playful side Emma was showing him today. She leaned down and flicked her tongue along the corner of his mouth. “Mmm, salty.” He grinned up at her as she straddled him. “Did you just quote The Princess Bride?” “I believe I did. Are you complaining?” “Hell, no. But now that you’ve got me, whatcha gonna do?” The carnal speculation on her face had him poker-hard in three beats of his heart. “I thought I would start here and just see where I end up.” Teeth nipped at his bottom lip. “Can you be a good boy and just lie there for me?” “Define ‘good.’” She whacked his shoulder, mischief written all over her. “You’ve got ten minutes until I flip you over and bury myself in that hot little pussy. Do your worst.” “Ten minutes, huh? I can do a lot in ten minutes.” “That’s what scares me.” Her cat-that-got-the-cream smile said she had heard his muttering. She tugged at his T-shirt until he grabbed the hem and stripped it off over his head. The way her eyes flew over his chest and abs made

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every minute at the weight bench worthwhile. With the size of Ty’s big barrel chest, Colby had felt he and Zach wouldn’t have got a look in, but the hunger on her face right now said otherwise. Her hands spread on the hard stretch of his stomach and swept upward, making his breath catch. They grazed across the hard little nubs on his chest and came to rest atop his meaty shoulders, kneading hungrily. He had a second to wonder what she’d do next, and her head descended, sweet breath playing along his skin a second before her tongue lashed out and tasted his hot skin. She liked the taste if her small moan was any indication, and she came back for more. From one side of his chest to the other she licked and kissed. Sharp little teeth nipped unpredictably, making him hiss and grit his teeth as he strived to keep his promise. Ten minutes? He may as well have said ten years! It was pure torture lying still under her inquisitive tongue. He dug deep for control as she found his brown nipples. She nuzzled as if asking for permission, clearly unsure of the reception of her caress, but as soon as he hummed his approval all hesitancy went out the gate. With zest she attacked the little nubs, experimenting to see what made the most impression. He was brought undone when she closed her teeth over one and bit down slowly while twisting the other. “Oh, fuck yeah! Just like that, baby.” Hands fisted as he fought the need to roll her over and attack hers just the same way. “Take that shirt off and let me play with yours.” She lifted her head and grinned down at him, clearly reveling in her power over him. “Not happening for another eight minutes, Colb. Let me play.” Her tone indicated that his torment had only just begun. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could do this. Hell, he’d made women do this all the time. How hard could it be? He resolutely locked his hands behind his head and opened his eyes. Surely one small woman who hadn’t been much more than a virgin a month ago couldn’t be that bad, could she?

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The groan felt like it had been ripped from somewhere deep inside him when her hands went to his fly. A few tugs and his button slid undone. The hard flesh striving for freedom did most of the work with the zipper. She peeled back his jeans and surveyed what she had wrought. He was hard pressed to hold back his seed when he looked at her face. Eyes wide and bottom lip captured in her teeth, she looked like a kid who had just opened a present and found all she’d ever wanted. Soft hands wrapped about his wide-headed cock and that same powerridden high imbued her that took over when her hands had wrapped around the patterned grips of the stainless steel .44. Her knee slid between his thighs, widening them and making room for her other leg. Whiskey-tinted eyes locked onto his cock and stayed there. The lust burning in them drowned him. She looked like a goddess, sexy and powerful, about to devour the mere mortal she had snared. Before he embarrassed himself by shooting all over her hands like an adolescent kid, he closed his eyes and started counting backwards from one thousands, by sevens. He had only reached nine hundred and eighty six when the heat of her wet mouth made pretending nothing was happening obsolete. Not on his shaft, he’d half been expecting that, but on his balls. She had scooped them from his jeans and was making love to them with her mouth. Licking the loose skin, sucking first one and then the other in to her mouth. The suction helped to pull him back from the edge, but her questing tongue did not. She found the puckered ridge running down the back of his sack and was flicking it as if it were a clit. All his squirms did was to work his jeans further down his hips and give her greater access. Thrilling and decadent, her tongue flirted with decency before travelling the length of his cock in one hot, wet swipe. “Oh, God, how long now?”

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“Mmm, still another four minutes. What happens if I make you come, big boy? What’s gonna happen when the ten minutes is up then?” She looked so damn sure of herself as she licked the trail of pre-cum from the head of his dick, holding his gaze boldly. “Once is only enough to take the edge off, sweetheart. I’ll be ready and rearing to go, don’t you worry about that. I told you, do your worse.” Elation swept though him when she quivered at that declaration. Sometimes he might be a little quick on the trigger, but he stayed hard and was ready to go again in less than a minute. If he didn’t have to change condoms he’d always thought he could take a woman for hours and not come up for air. One day when they were assured of their privacy, he would love to try it with Emma. Wet and hot, her mouth engulfed him. Seeing her stretch those passion-swollen lips around the widely flared, mushroom-shaped head was so damn erotic it took his breath away. Her wicked little tongue flickered under the head and into the weeping fissure. Colby wasn’t holding back for anything. He wanted to see the raw hunger on her face as he spouted down her throat. He let his orgasm build as it would. The tingle budded in his spine. While his thoughts were semicoherent, he debated on warning her but figured she would grasp the obvious pretty damn fast. It was near a bellow that erupted from him as his inner muscles spasmed, sending semen shooting up his shaft and into the humid haven of Emma’s mouth. Surprise flared in her eyes but was quickly overcome by the sensual avarice he knew to be such a big part of her. Need and greed beamed forth as she sucked him dry, her mouth worshiping his willing forfeit to the altar of pleasure. She barely had time to lick her lips and he was tearing her out of her clothes. Her shirt put up no battle, falling by the wayside, her bra following suit. Indigo denim put up a token resistance, aided and

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abetted by his mouth being more interested in capturing her breast than in helping his hands with their task. He cursed soundly when he realized he had forgotten the artfully worn cowboy boots that were holding up her jeans imminent demise. She squealed when her bare ass met the cool steel plate of the tailgate, but Colby just gave her a feral grin as he slid the offenders from her feet. He held up the jeans triumphantly, turned inside out by his haste, like a conqueror with the vanquished flag Dropping his pants to his ankles, he sat on the tailgate and pulled her to straddle him. He smiled at the shell-shocked look on her face. “Your time is up, sweetheart, it’s my turn now.” “You don’t muck around, do you?” “I always was a rip-the-present-open type of kid. I thought we’d just skip straight to the good bits.” He gripped her under her arms and lifted her up until full breasts sat level with his mouth. “And these are some really good bits.” He latched on to one dusky point and drew deep, knowing the onslaught would drift perilously close to the threshold she loved skating so much. The way her head lolled back told him he’d found it. He nipped the fully engorged bud delicately before switching his attention to the other, feeling the pull at his scalp as her fingers dug for purchase in his hair. He wanted all she had to give him, right here, right now. She writhed over his lap, damp inner thighs brushed against his still tumescent cock. He went completely still as dread gripped him. “I am so fucking stupid.” He laid his forehead against her heaving breasts, trying to suck in enough air to get his brain to function. It didn’t help that she was tugging at his hair, trying to work her nipple back in his mouth. “No, you’re not. Keep going.” “Em, I didn’t bring any condoms.” She ducked her head and licked his earlobe. “Doesn’t matter, I’m on birth control now.” Her voice was thready but her intent crystal clear.

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All he could do was groan and pull her down on his cock. The heat was indescribable. Molten lust flowed over his sensitive head. He plundered her mouth as she sank to take him to the hilt, each thrust of his tongue echoed below. Hard points grazed his chest as she rose and fell under his guiding hands, branding his chest with their passage. She raced ahead, pushing against his desperate grip, wanting harder and faster. Colby was more than happy to accommodate her. Any measure of control he had gained from his earlier release was lost to the wanton greed of the woman riding his cock. She looked wild and free, secure in the knowledge of her femininity. He wanted to feel her grip him before he too became lost in the moment. A thumb pressed to the raw bundle of nerves nestled atop her liquid folds arched her back, and pulled him into the maelstrom as she called his name, her voice rough and breathy. His seed burst from him, bathing her sultry cunt with its heat, her little cries extending his release on and on. Colby wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, his face buried against her sweet-smelling hair. He sucked the scent in as he scrambled for air, stunned at the magnitude of his release. The way Emma clung to him gave him hope that it had been just as earthshattering for her. One thing he had always known was that when you had hold of a good thing you held on tight and didn’t let go. There was no way in hell he was letting this woman get away from him. The trill of his phone went ignored as he soaked up the feel of Emma’s curvy body wrapped around his, soft to hard, smooth to rough, woman to man. Eventually they peeled themselves apart. Colby found some wipes in the takeout bag and gave some to Em before he cleaned up the mess they had created. Sex was untidy, but good sex was downright messy. He couldn’t wipe the smug grin off his face as he set himself to rights and helped Em back into her clothes.

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That was a new one for him. He’d had plenty of experience undressing the female of the species, but he’d never helped to reverse the process. He was fascinated by the shimmy that set her breasts in the bra cups and the little wiggle that got her jeans over her hips. Absolutely captivated. Apparently she shared his fascination because she had watched unabashed as he had tucked himself in and adjusted his tackle for comfort. She now knew for certain that he dressed to the left. The second time the phone rang Colby checked the number and switched it off. He wasn’t letting Zach disturb his first one-on-one date with Em. “Come on, we’ll go for a drive before we head home.” Zach could wait.

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Chapter 15 “Tell me this is a joke.” Ty’s face was stony as he listened to Andy Calhoun, knuckles white where they gripped the phone. He’d come straight home when Zach had called. “I’m sorry, Ty. They still have no idea how it happened, but Hawkins is gone. The last definite time he was in that bed was four hours ago. He could be anywhere. He knocked out one of the nurses and stole enough dope to knock out a rhino. You need to find out where Emma is and let me know. We need to get her into protective custody until he is caught.” “Colby has taken her out for the day. I have no idea where they have gone.” He rubbed a big hand down his face, stress building as fear for the woman he loved seized his heart. “Zach is trying to get hold of them, but Colb has turned off his phone. I’m going to kill him.” “Settle down, Ty, that’s not such a bad thing. If neither you nor Zach knows where they are, Hawkins will have trouble finding them, too. Emma is our number-one priority here, Ty.” “You’re preaching to the choir, Andy. I thought this was over. Fuck! He was supposed to be gone for good.” “I know. Look, I’ll be over there shortly. Sit tight and try to get in contact with them. Ring Beth. She might have some idea about where Colby was taking Em today. I should be there within half an hour.” Ty looked at the beeping phone and blinked hard before calling Beth. He acknowledged Zach’s gesture that he was going outside with a nod.

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Beth was more than helpful. Her description of the case Colby was carrying led Ty to call the range. They confirmed that Colby had signed in this morning and spent three hours there with one Ms. Duncan and left a shitload of brass and shredded targets behind. The range master said he wouldn’t be surprised if the couple had booked into a motel somewhere by the steam coming off them when they left. But Colby wasn’t a motel kind of guy. He was quite fond of getting it on in the great outdoors, but who knows where he would have taken her. Ty was studying a map of the Springs and surrounding areas, trying to tap into his inner psychic when he heard a thump outside. Zach must have been playing with Dozer while he was on the phone. The squeal of the back screen door reminded him that he hadn’t oiled it. “Hey, Zach, you should go for a quick drive along the river. Colb’s probably got Em laid out on a grassy bank somewhere. Zach?” He had no warning beyond the prickling of his neck. Ty sprung to his feet as the needle jabbed into his shoulder savagely. He got a few wild swings in, but the hardwood floor rushed up to meet him. Darkness reigned. **** A loud bang jarred Ty from his stupor. A raging headache pounded in his skull. Adrenaline poured through his body. Muscles swelled desperately, ready for action. That was enough to let him know he wasn’t going anywhere fast. A quick look determined silver duct tape held him securely in a kitchen chair. A strip stretched across his mouth. Zach was similarly bound, still unconscious. The bang had been Andy being wrestled into another chair. The man trying to get the big officer into the chair was nearly half his size. How the hell Hawkins had gotten Ty into the chair was beyond him. Ty shut his eyes and feigned sleep.

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He needed a plan, fast. Peeking through the smallest slit of lashshrouded eyelid, he watched the madman’s feet. The ripping of tape let him know Andy was sharing in their fate. At least the psycho didn’t have Emma. He’d sacrifice himself for her if it came to that without a second thought, but it would be better to make sure Hawkins didn’t get anywhere near her in the first place. “Ah, Whelan senior is awake. I was afraid the sedative they also use for knocking out large animals wasn’t going to be enough for a man of your stature. Our overgrown friend the constable might have the very same problem. Master Zach, however, should be safely out of commission for another half hour at least.” The voice was smooth, cultured, and urbane without being distinctive. It fit with the man himself. Ty had seen the man around working for the electricity company and at the club doing some wiring for the Keenan’s. Nondescript was the best way to describe him, average in every way. So damned normal that he slipped under the radar. Ty raised his chin in open hostility as he regarded the man. “Where is Colby? Out furthering Emmaline’s education?” The man leaned back against the kitchen bench and tapped his top lip thoughtfully. “I had held some hope that you three would have shown her the error of her ways. Inducing women to believe in all that romantic crap is a crime against the male population. “But here she has turned three grown men, two of whom know exactly what a woman really needs, into simpering fools.” He walked over to regard Ty, his calm brown eyes not showing the taint of his evil as they should. “I really am anticipating the look on all of your faces when I show her how it is really supposed to be. Even Deputy Calhoun here will feel the bite. “A woman being hurt on his watch? The man may never recover from it.” Ty was coldly furious, helpless to do anything but wiggle on his chair as the madman described just what he planned on doing to the

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woman he loved. He strained his ears for the slightest sound of Colby returning. For once he was praying that Emma wouldn’t walk through that door. **** “God, sweetheart, you keep doing that and we won’t be getting home at all.” Emma gave Colby an impish grin from where her head rested in his lap. The big bench seat of the Ford was ideal for a little hankypanky. Prudence dictated she should have waited until they stopped, but she couldn’t resist stirring Colby up a bit. The little wiggles could have been her innocently trying to get comfortable, but he knew exactly what she was doing as her temple rubbed against the evergrowing bulge of his cock. She rolled to her side, the lap belt easily accommodating her contortions. A thud as something was knocked from the seat had her glancing onto the floor boards. She reached down and retrieved Colby’s phone. “Shit, I forgot about that. Turn it back on for me, sweet.” “Twenty six missed calls and four messages. My, my, aren’t you popular. They’re all from Zach.” Colby chuckled. The deep sound tweaked nerve endings inside her that had been thoroughly sated today but didn’t know when to quit. “Put it on speaker. This should be interesting.” His smile faded with alacrity halfway through the first message. Emma blanched and sat up. She knew her face was as white as Colby’s knuckles strangling the steering wheel. “Yeah, Colb, call me as soon as you finish what you’re doing. We need to make sure Emma is all right. Hawkins has escaped from hospital. No one knows where he is. Call me.”

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Blue eyes drained of all warmth locked with hers as she pressed the button to play the next. “Come on, Colb, pick up, this isn’t funny, man. I know you cut me off.” The third was just as short. “For fuck’s sake, no one takes this long. Call me. Andy is coming over here.” The fourth made Emma’s heart stutter. “Listen, you little shit, I’m going to tear you a new one when you get home. We’re worried sick. Ty’s trying to track you down… here, Dozer…what’s wrong with that fool dog…What the fuck?...” There was a thud and a sharp crash as the phone struck something. “Hello, Zachary.” The cultivated intonation chilled Emma to the bone. There was the sound of fingers fumbling with the phone and then silence. “That’s Hawkins!” Heart pounding, she gripped Zach’s corded forearm. “He’s got Zach.” Colby’s foot hit the brake and he swung the wheel, sliding the back end of the pickup out as he headed for Liberty Springs and goosed the accelerator. “Pass me the phone.” Emma watched as he divided his attention between the phone and the road, her consuming fear for Zach overriding any anxiety over the blinding speed at which they traveled. “Come on, come on,” Colby muttered, clearly waiting for someone to pick up. “Fuck it.” He pressed more buttons and tried again. “Shit! No one is picking up at home and Andy is not answering his. I’ll try the station.” A few seconds later he spoke, “Jane, it’s Colby Whelan. Is Andy about?” “He is? How long ago did he head there?” “Thanks, Jane.” He glanced at Emma, all traces of the laughing bad boy gone. What remained was all man, a man concerned for those he loved. “Andy headed out home to meet with Ty and Zach half an hour ago, about the same time as that last message from Zach. Jane said the whole area is being patrolled, but they don’t want to cause a panic.

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Andy isn’t answering his shoulder mic, but he hasn’t put in any distress calls.” Emma could only sit in silence, adrenaline making her shaky. “We have to assume Hawkins has Andy, too. That means he is armed. If the cops go in there, they put my brothers and Andy at risk. I’ll drop you off at the diner and go in on foot.” He dug in his pocket and handed her a small key. “Get me the 9mm out and load both clips.” She reached under the seat and pulled the gun case out. “Not fucking likely, Colby. There is no way in hell I am going to sit back and watch while you get yourself killed.” She lifted her chin and fixed him with the cold fury blazing in her hazel depths. “You can’t creep for shit and I have got a better plan.” Emma outlined the idea as she thumbed bullets into the clips. She could tell Colby didn’t like parts of it, but he didn’t have anything better. Stealth wouldn’t work. Her plan had a chance, but it would take balls of steel and enough guts to make them clang. She saw her resolve echoed back in the glacial blue of Colby’s eyes. “We can do this.” **** Ty watched the madman walk around the kitchen, hands fondling Andy’s sidearm. He noticed Hawkins limped, courtesy of the two slugs they had dug out of his hip. If he waited until he passed close again he could topple the chair into that hip. His eyes must have telegraphed his intentions because Andy’s gaze narrowed and there was an imperceptible shake of his head. The tall man glanced toward Zach and showed three fingers. He was right. It would take the three of them acting in concert to take him out with any chance of success, considering they were trussed up like Christmas turkeys. Zach hadn’t so much as twitched

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yet. The extra fifty odd pounds they both had over him was showing in his reaction to the sedative. He just hoped to hell Zach woke up before Colby came waltzing through that door with Emma. The sound of Emma’s truck pulling up outside came loud and clear through the open kitchen window. He wished he could see out of it, but Andy was the only one beside their captor who had a line of sight. Ty could hear the sweet sound of Emma’s laughter, ringing bell-like through the silence of the late afternoon and Colby’s deeper chuckle harmonizing with it. He had to make a noise and alert them. If Hawkins shot him, it would be a small price to pay to warn them and keep Emma safe. But he saw something on Andy’s face that held him back. Hope. He wished to Christ he could see whatever it was that had put that look on the deputy’s face. It was killing him, feeling so useless and not being able to see what was going on. The gleeful sound became clearer as the couple got closer to the front door. “Promises, promises, wench! As soon as I get you inside I’m gonna make you live up to every single one.” There was the sound of kissing, wet and enthusiastic. Typical fucking Colby, Ty thought, the world is about to fall down around him and all he can think about is getting his end in. There was a thud against the front door. The sound of a body being pushed against it and pinned for pleasure. “If you don’t stop that I’m gonna do you right here on the door step, darlin’.” Ty froze. Colby never called a woman “darlin’.” He always told Ty it was condescending and old fashioned, but his little brother knew damn well it was what Ty called Emma. Did the little shit know? Was he trying to give them a message? Hope flared in his heart, but the organ skipped a beat when the doorknob turned. Colby’s broad back appeared, clad in a black jacket.

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He could see where Emma’s arms disappeared under the bulk. But the couple was oblivious, kissing as if trying to eat each other from the mouth down. Growls and moans echoed through the silent kitchen. Ty saw Zach stir and hoped to hell he stayed still. Hawkins trained the weapon on the couple and unnecessarily cocked the double-action handgun. “I am afraid I will have to interrupt your little make-out session, children.” Colby, God bless him, dove for the ground, taking Emma with him, and Andy surged to his feet, barreling into Hawkins’s hip. The sound of gunfire deafened everyone in the kitchen. Ty overturned his chair in a rush to incapacitate Hawkins, but the job was already done. From his position on the ground he took in the scene. Emma was propped atop his youngest brother’s side, looking down the sights of Colby’s 9mm held rock steady on the spreading patch of red on Hawkins’s chest. The wild fury in her eyes roared that she was willing him to move so she could put another one in him. Andy, like him, was no better than a turtle on its back. Zach was wondering what the fuck was going on, gray eyes scrunched against the blinding headache gripping him. Through his ringing ears Ty perceived a deep groan. He knew he wasn’t imagining things when Emma looked down sharply and the hand she touched Colby with came away covered in blood. He saw her panic, looking frantically around. She needed help but didn’t want to leave her injured lover. Her frantic gaze alighted on him. He willed her to calm, hoping his eyes carried his emotions as clearly as hers. He flicked his gaze to the bench where the knife block sat. Ty thanked God when she moved. He felt a little nervous when she sliced the tape holding his right arm but didn’t flinch. She was shaking enough for the both of them. He ripped the tape off his mouth. “Give me the knife. You keep pressure on that wound, darlin’. Everything is going to be all right.” His mouth was dry, but he forced the words out as he cut off the

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remaining tape. It was a struggle to get free of the chair lying on his side, but he managed eventually. He cut Andy’s hands free and passed him the knife before going to Emma. He slid his arm around her shoulders as she pushed on the cloth she had wadded up and pressed to the wound high on Colby’s back. “Give me a look, darlin’.” A quick inspection proved it to be a through-and-through, entering above his shoulder blade and coming out just below his collar bone. Ty grabbed a clean dishtowel and held it to the exit wound, alarmed by the amount of blood soaking into it. “Andy, we need an ambulance. About now would be good.” He heard the crackle of the police radio as the tall man put through his request. Zach’s sudden cursing alerted Ty to his release. It didn’t take five seconds for him to drop to his knees on the other side of Emma. A quick glance showed Andy standing over the still form of John Hawkins, but other than a nudge with his boot he made no attempt to revive the man. Blood had long since ceased squirting from his chest. If he wasn’t dead yet, it wouldn’t be long. Ty knew he would testify Andy had done everything in his power to revive the man. Hell, Ty wouldn’t have even kicked him. The wail of sirens heralded the arrival of the paramedics, and not before time. Colby had lost a hell of a lot of blood. Pushed aside by experienced hands, Ty and Zach held Emma between them, sharing the comfort of touch and wiping away her tears. Ty noticed she paid Hawkins’s body no attention. She didn’t avoid looking at it but showed absolutely no remorse or emotion if she glanced that way. She was one hell of a woman, but right now she was worried about one of her men. “He’ll be okay, darlin’. It was nice and high, there’s not much of any great importance where the bullet went through. They’ll patch him up, and he’ll be right as rain.” He lifted his face out of her hair as Andy came over.

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“How did you know?” It had been puzzling Ty since he saw the hope flare in Andy’s eyes. “Colby had his jacket on. He’s too damn proud of that body to cover it up when there’s a pretty woman around. I’ve seen him strip down when there is snow on the ground if he thinks someone’s watching, and it’s a warm afternoon. He had a reason to cover up. And Emma was wearing a long shirt, too, one that doesn’t match the shirt underneath.” He put out his big hand. “Cough it up, honey, I know you’re holding out on me. You pulled the nine from under Colby’s jacket.” Ty stepped before her so that he and Andy screened her from the rest of the room and watched her slide her hand to the small of her back. He was prepared for the small matte black Browning to come out, but he choked when the big stainless .44 emerged from concealment instead. Andy blinked a time or two as she expertly cleared the weapon before laying it in his hand. He put the other hand out for the lethal, fat shells. “Where the fuck did that come from?” Zach’s eyes were wide as he lifted the back of her shirt. “You had that thing shoved down the back of your jeans? You could have shot your ass off.” “Only if my butt worked out how to pull the trigger, dumbass.” She rubbed her rump through the denim. “I am going to be sore for a while. I landed on the bloody thing when Colby took me to the ground.” Andy shook his head. “I’m glad she is your problem and not mine.” He looked up, professional persona in place. “I need you all to accompany me for questioning, but we can do it at the hospital. I don’t like my chances of trying to get Emma to go anywhere else right now.” He sighed as the crime scene crew swarmed over Hawkins’s body. “Do you have any idea just how much paperwork you lot have caused me? It will be a month before I dig myself out of it.” He tugged off a

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piece of tape still sticking to his sleeve. “Come on, only one of you can ride with Colb, and I’ll get there quicker.” Ty watched Emma, seeing her pain as she was torn between wanting to go with Colby, who was being stretchered out to the waiting vehicle, and staying right where she was in the shelter of their arms. “It’s okay, darlin. We’ll beat the ambulance there anyway. Go with him.” He kissed her temple and patted her to get her moving like he would a horse. He smiled softly when she laid her hand on Colby’s and climbed into the ambulance, her love plain to see. “You’ve caught a good one there, boys. Don’t be foolish enough to let her get away,” Andy said. Ty saw the pain that flashed in his eyes and the tension that pulled the pale scars tight. Andy knew all about letting them get away. “She’s stuck with us now, Andy. We’re not dumb enough to let her go again.” He smiled at Zach. “Ready to go? Emma’s going to be pissed when they won’t let her stay with him.” “At least she’s not armed any more. I can’t believe we missed that thing down her pants. It was kinda hot when she pulled it out, though.” Andy chuckled his agreement, and all Ty could do was shake his head. For once he agreed with Beth. Men were dumb. As he walked out he grinned when Zach automatically flipped the bird at Brody and Luke who were gawking over the fence. Ty had never had a problem with the Marshall brothers, but Zach and Colb both went out of their way to antagonize them. It was a silent war of pranks and one-upmanship, both lots carrying on like testosteronedriven adolescents instead of grown men. “Get in the car and leave them alone, Zach,” Andy advised, slipping into his patrol car. “When are you lot going to grow up?” Both Whelans treated that as rhetorical.

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Chapter 16 Emma paced the linoleum-tiled floor of the waiting room, four steps across, turn, and repeat. It grew too much for Zach. He snared her as she passed and pulled her down into his lap. “Sit down before you wear a hole in the floor.” Andy had already got the details he could remember out of Zach and was now questioning Ty. The process had gone quickly as the big officer had been there for most of it. It was hard questioning a man whose attention was divided between the woman who had been pacing the floor and the door from which they expected the news to come of Colby. He had been in surgery for the best part of an hour now. Marley Richards had come through twice assuring them everything would be fine. The surgeon was just dealing with a few more damaged blood vessels than first thought. Andy was sure the woman only came through to taunt him with all that tall, slender grace that had sprung from the stocky little tomboy she had been. She had always followed him around like a bad smell. At sixteen she had snared a two-week stint at the station on work experience. He had spent the time struggling to contain the need to put the kid over his knee and teach her a valuable lesson about pulling lions’ tails with the flat of his hand. But he hadn’t trusted himself. The fourteen years that separated them hadn’t mattered to his cock. While he never took orders from anything below his shoulders, the temptation had been there, immoral and deplorable.

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She had been a hormonal child struggling with awakening appetites, he a grown man. She should have grown out of the childish crush by now, but it had only worsened. She never missed a chance to antagonize him or flaunt that goddess’s body. The month spent in hospital after his accident had been plagued by her. The thought of a sponge bath now made him cringe even as his dick surged to life. She was merciless in her quest to snare him. He was too old and too jaded for a fresh little thing like her, but each time he saw her, his resolve weakened, sandstone worn beneath the lap of a persistent tide. He braced himself as the door opened once more, but the doctor accompanied Marley this time. Those in the waiting room rose as one to their feet. The surgeon gave them a tired but pleased smile. “Colby is going to be fine. He is fit and healthy and will recover in no time. He should come around in the next twenty minutes or so. You will all be able to see him briefly,” he assured them. “Nurse Richards will come and get you then. He will need a day or two in hospital to guard against infection. We’ll have him on an antibiotic drip, but he is going to be fine.” Andy saw the relief he felt reflected and multiplied in three smiling faces. Bright green eyes flashed their own relief from across the room, and he mentally kicked himself. The Whelans had been like older brothers to Marley growing up. Colby’s plight had been worrying her, too. She hadn’t been hovering just to tease him. He turned and picked up his hat. “I’ll come by tomorrow and talk to Colb. I’ve got to get started on this paperwork.” He couldn’t help but feel the love when he looked at Emma smiling between Zach and Ty. “Look after them, Emma, and yourself.” He tuned and left, wondering when the realization that she had taken a life was going to hit her.

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**** Emma stood by the bed, Colby’s hand in both of hers and Ty’s reassuring bulk at her back, his big hands resting on her waist. Zach loomed beside her. Colby looked pale and weak. A wide swath of white bandage wrapped his chest and shoulder but his sense of humor was undaunted. “Come on, Em, you’re little enough to hide in here. I’ll just tell them you’re my teddy bear.” He held the sheet up with his drip-impaled hand. “I don’t think so, Colby Whelan.” Marley Richards came to the foot of his bed, her amusement warring with exasperation. “They need to go.” She smiled at Emma. “I’m sorry, Emma, but we have to clear the ward now. Go home, get some sleep. You can come back in the morning.” Emma bent and kissed him, chuckling when his tongue tried to sneak past her chaste lips. “There is not too much wrong with you.” She laughed. “I don’t know. Want to check my blood pressure?” The diabolical eyebrow wiggle gave away his lewd intentions. “I am sorry you have to put up with him, Marley.” Emma chose to ignore his crude efforts. Marley just smiled, a wicked gleam entering her startling emerald eyes. “There won’t be much to put up with. If he gets cheeky, I just turn up his morphine, and it’s off to la-la land for Colby.” Emma left the ward to Colby’s complaining shot at the nurse. “You’re a joy-leech, Marley. You suck the fun out of everything.” She felt Ty chuckle silently at her side. Zach didn’t bother to keep it quiet. He ducked his head, suitably repentant when another nurse leveled him a sharp look. Emma walked in a cocoon of their love, a huge weight she hadn’t even known she carried off her shoulders. Colby was going to be fine, and Hawkins was gone for good. His death had granted her freedom. She searched for how she felt about that, feeling the pamphlet on

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post-traumatic stress disorder the paramedic had pressed on her in her pocket. A part of her mourned for the man Hawkins might have been if circumstance had been different. Would he have been a fine, wellbalanced adult if, as a child, he had known love and guidance instead of abuse and defilement? But Emma had to admit, she felt cleansed; there was no other word for it. The man had infiltrated her life for the best part of five years, terrorized her, and abducted her, but his biggest mistake had been to target the men she loved. When she had realized Hawkins had shot Colby, she had wanted to take back her own shot and aim for somewhere more painful and less fatal, and empty the whole damn clip. She had felt the righteous rage of a lioness defending her cubs. No one fucked with what was hers. The cool night air touched her face, and she stopped with the same realization that had halted the men at her sides. They had no way of getting home. She wasn’t sure who laughed first, but all three of them ended up in a giggling mess on the concrete. She knew there were tears running down her face, but she didn’t care. The relief was unbelievable. Laughter and tears washed away the tensions of the traumatic day. A slightly concerned orderly found them and called a cab. There was real relief on the man’s face when he loaded them into the vehicle and patted the roof. The cabby had a similar look when he dropped them off. Zach had needed to duck inside to get money to pay the poor man as none of them had a wallet on them. Exhaustion caught up with Emma. She showered and crawled into bed. Ty and Zach were quick to follow. Ty spooned her back, the solid reassurance of his heartbeat echoing through her. Zach snuggled in against her breasts, his cheek lying against them as if listening to her heart. She breathed in the warm scent of his hair and let fatigue have her.

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**** “Stop scratching at it,” Emma scolded. “It’s itching like a son of a bitch.” “That means it’s healing. Leave it alone.” Three days after being shot, Colby was home. Emma had offered to babysit him so the others could go to work. Four hours into it she was now questioning her wisdom. Men were the worst patients on God’s green earth. Colby was worse than most. He whined like a baby, pouted when he didn’t get his own way, and got sulky when she rebuffed his amorous advances. Marley had warned that there was to be no raising his blood pressure for another day or two. The tissue needed time to knit behind the stitches. “But I’m bored. What can I do?” “Not me. Watch a movie.” Emma was trying to get some work done, but so far trying was all she had accomplished. She glanced at the clock, checking if it was time to give Colb his next lot of medication. She decided it was close enough. “It’s time for your pills. I’ll get them and put something on for you to watch.” Emma closed the laptop and headed for the kitchen. Marley had given her two lots of tablets when she picked him up this morning, plus his antibiotics. The white ones were just a general painkiller while the yellow had a sedative in them to help him sleep. Marley had told her they were for nighttime, but to slip him one if he got to be too much. After having him as a patient for three days, she knew what a pain in the ass he could be. Emma felt no guilt as she added a yellow one to the pile. “Here, down these.” She held out the pills and a glass of water. “That many? I’m gonna rattle when I walk.” Her look was eloquent. “Has anyone told you you look hot when you’re mad?” His blue eyes sparkled with devilment as he tossed back the pills.

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“Only your brothers, but they weren’t stupid enough to say it while they were injured and at my mercy.” “You don’t have any. You’re a mean woman, Emma Duncan.” Emma ignored him and grabbed a DVD at random from the cabinet and shoved it in the machine. It was full of guns, muscles, and cars, and she was hoping it would shut him up long enough for the medication to take hold. “I can’t get comfortable. I need a pillow.” Clenching her jaw, Emma headed for the door. “No, I just need you to sit down. I’ll use your leg.” He gave her innocent eyes when she arched her brows. “I promise I’ll be good.” “That’s what worries me.” “Come on, Em. I haven’t had a chance to just cuddle you for ages. Come and sit down. Bring the table over and you can work.” The big, blue eyes were pleading his case, and as much as she had reached the end of her patience, she couldn’t resist him. She sighed and tugged the tray table to the end of the lounge. Colby’s arm shot out when she sat down but he did no more than wrap his hand around the thigh his head lay on. The sling held his raised shoulder secure. She briefly laid her hand on his forehead. “What’s wrong?” “Just checking for a temperature. You’re actually behaving yourself.” “I am sorry I’m being a pain in the ass. I just hate being all cooped up with nothing to do. I can’t even have a bit of fun.” “You’re not the only one going without, Colby. There’s no naughties for anyone until you get the all clear. That’s why I’m sleeping at home. What is fair for one is fair for all.” Colby laughed softly and then winced. “I’m glad I’m not the only one suffering.” Emma opened the laptop and started work again. Colby’s embrace was a warm comfort. Three and a half pages flew from her fingers before he spoke again.

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“Em?” “Mmm?” “Did you dope me up?” His voice was soft and sleepy. “Yes, Colby, go to sleep.” “You’re a mean, mean woman,” he informed her, but snuggled in closer and drifted off. **** Ty walked in an hour later, a warm smile curling his lips as he spotted Colby wrapped around Emma, the movie playing on the widescreen muted. “You are a good influence on him, darlin’. If one of us were here we would have strangled him by now. He is an absolute pain in the ass when he’s sick. How did you stop him complaining?” Emma decided on honesty. “I doped him.” Ty chuckled. “We gotta get some more of those pills.” He bent and kissed her upturned lips, softly and thoroughly. “How is your work going?” “Great now that I am not being hassled. Have you seen Ron this morning?” It was the first time Ron had taken a client without her there. “I called in there before I came home. It went fine. The Mannings were a little hesitant at first, but David really took to Ron. He was riding Barney around the small yard alone by the end of the session.” “That’s great. I was a little worried.” “I know you were. That’s why I went.” He sat down in the armchair and stretched his back out. “I called in and saw Andy, too. He wasn’t joking about all the paperwork he would be bogged down in. Cal and Connor are hassling him as well. Two underground D and s clubs have been attacked in the last week down in Denver, and they are concerned it might spread. Andy doesn’t need that worry right now. I’ll call in on him again tomorrow.”

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“You’re doing a lot of running around at the moment.” “Life would be a lot simpler if we all lived in one place.” He brought up the subject they had been butting heads over for days. “You know why I can’t move in here, Ty. The riding center is important to me, and I have an office full of research material there.” She willed him to see where she was coming from. “We could always move in with you.” Ty floated the idea. Emma stilled. She had been flirting with that idea, too, but hadn’t voiced it. Her mind had come up with all sorts of ideas why that wouldn’t work. This was their home. They had lived here for years. Most men would feel insecure living in a house that was owned by their girlfriend. She needed her space, a retreat that was hers alone. She was a moody bitch who would drive them away in a matter of days. The more she thought about it the more reasons she came up with why it wouldn’t work. “You’re thinking too hard, darlin’. Talk to me.” Emma took a deep breath and laid her objections out one by one. Ty listened, elbows on the arms of the comfortable, old chair and fingers steepled. When she finished he leant forward, slate eyes boring into hers. If it wasn’t for Colby sleeping on undisturbed, she would have squirmed beneath the intensity of his gaze. “This is a house, Em. It was never a home until you came here. Wherever you are we can make our home, darlin’. “As for insecure, do you really think that label fits any of us? Hell, Colby can walk into anywhere and make himself at home. Zach’s not much better, and I am happy to be wherever you are. “And we respect your space, Emma. We know your computer is off-limits. It doesn’t take much to stretch that to a room or a couple of rooms. God knows there are enough of those at your place.

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“Whatever it takes, we’ll do it. You mean that much to us Em. We can handle your shitty moods. They don’t scare us, darlin’. It tears our hearts out to see you drive home of an evening instead of staying with us. Can you at least give it some thought?” His gray eyes pleaded, and Emma shut her mouth before she told him to pack his stuff and move in with her right now. The idea of waking among them every morning was intoxicating. Almost enough to give up her freedom and independence. Almost. “I’ll think about it, Ty,” she promised. **** The sky was shot with the red and orange streaks of the dying sun as the evening colors played their glow over the horses grazing peacefully in the paddock. Emma leaned against the fence, her arms crossed over the top rail. She let the solitude infuse her as she reflected and weighed options. She loved those guys. There was no doubt about it. She had always known Ty had the potential to find a place in her heart, but the slice of her that Colby and Zach now owned staggered her. All three of them were more important to her than she had ever thought any man could be. She had wondered how women like Beth and Lacey could love more than one man, but now she knew. The “bag limit” Ty had joked about was only limited by the size of the hearts involved. Her love was shared between three men but was not diminished in any way. In fact, Emma thought the love was actually magnified and multiplied as it encompassed and embraced all who it touched. She had never known such an all-consuming love, one that nurtured and grew rather than burning bright and fizzing out. It was worth taking a risk on. They were definitely keepers. She took a deep breath and headed back up to the house. She would let the guys move in and see how it worked. But not until

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Colby got his stitches out. No house was big enough to share with his whining ass until then, and they were all out of sedatives. **** “Have you seen the size of that bath?” Zach was like a kid in a candy store. Em just smiled while Ty answered for her. “Emma’s lived here for three years, Zach. I think she might have found the bathroom by now.” He was unpacking clothes into a walk-in closet that was big enough to hold a poker tournament in. “You could swim laps in that thing.” “As I said, Zach, make yourself at home. It is only this bathroom through here and my office that you have to steer clear of.” The idea of sharing a bathroom with three men after a beer and pizza night was downright terrifying. The air freshener hadn’t been invented yet that could deal with that load. She glanced around. “Where is Colby?” “Checking out the weights room.” “Make sure he doesn’t hurt that shoulder. Just because the sling is off doesn’t mean it’s fixed.” “Yes, mother hen,” Zach teased. “Beth is keeping an eye on him.” He stuck his head into the closet. “Don’t you ever get lost in here?” “I can usually find my way back out,” Emma replied drily. She was enjoying watching their reactions to the sprawling almost-mansion she called home. She had promised them a two-week trial once Colby had a checkup. A two-week trial where everyone promised to be themselves. She knew it wouldn’t be a fair test if the boys were on their best behavior. This morning the doctor had said Colb could resume normal activities as long as he kept the shoulder clean and rested, although he still had another five days before the stitches could be removed. She had relented on her stance regarding the stitches coming out on the

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proviso that Colby ceased his whining. So far he had managed to hold it back. Before she knew it, three men were annexing closet space and moving shaving gear into the main bath. It was good to hear voices rumble in the echoic halls, to see sweat-stained hats hung on the coatrack, and to know a comforting touch was only as far away as she wished it to be. “What are your plans for this afternoon, darlin’?” She didn’t feel like working and knew that if she stayed here it was only a matter of time before she found herself the subject of some amorous attentions. Colby had been angling for a quickie from the moment the doctor gave him the go-ahead. She needed to get out and revel in her newfound freedom. “I think I might go for a ride. I haven’t ridden Cajun for a week now. He’ll be spoiling for a run.” “Got a spare mount or two?” “You want to come riding?” Despite the fact that he worked with horses nearly every day, Emma had only seen Ty on a horse once in three years, and that had been for a charity ride over to Sheridan last year. She still remembered the look of that fine ass in a saddle. “I’d love to. I don’t get a chance to do it often enough to warrant keeping one anymore, but we can all ride. Some of us are just a little more comfortable than others.” His grin made her wonder. “Colby?” “No, he sits a horse like he was born there. Zach, now he would fall off a gate on a windy day.” “If he wants to come, I had better catch Barney then. I’m not hauling his ass up off the ground.” “If I fall off, you gotta kiss it better.” Zach had clearly overheard their plans. He was scrambling through his bag to find some jeans to replace the comfortable sweats he wore. Emma watched, captivated, as he shucked the pants and pulled on the faded denim, commando and completely unself-conscious about it.

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Ty groaned. “Put that thing away, Zach. Em’s looking hungry already.” The worst thing was that he was right. One look and she was gone. In one way she hoped the effect settled with exposure. In another she hoped they would still affect her like that when they were all old and gray. “Don’t she?” Stormy eyes rested on hers, and a naughty smile erupted. “Want me to take them back off?” “Take what off?” Colby sauntered in, his face lighting up when he spied Em. “Mmm, somebody’s horny.” He walked straight over and pulled her close with his good arm. Emma wanted to tell him to back off, but between his mischievous hunger and the way he smelled so damn good, she melted. His mouth was flavored by Beth’s apple tarts. Cinnamon and warm sugar laced his lips and Emma couldn’t help but lick into his mouth. He tasted good enough to eat. “This isn’t fair.” She groaned against his lips, her hips snugging in to his body without conscious thought. “What isn’t?” Colby slid his hand down to cup her ass and squeezed, his lips nipping along her jaw. “That I can’t control myself around any of you.” The pleasure was licking along her spine and pooling low in her belly. “That’s a bad thing?” His teeth scraped over her earlobe. “Yes, no, I don’t know.” Ty moving in behind her took all the starch out of Emma’s spine. Her head lolled back to rest against his chest. “You only have to say ‘no,’ and we all leave you be, darlin’.” Yeah, like that was going to happen. The moment Colby had touched her she’d been lost. Five days of their gentle caresses, soulful kisses, and no sex had taken its toll. The glowing embers had flared to life, and she knew the flames would roar around the eaves before they were quenched.

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Colby’s lips trailed down across her collarbone as she reached up and splayed her hand behind Ty’s thick neck. She tugged deliberately until he capitulated with a smile and kissed her upturned face. “That would be right. I start things off, and they get the kisses,” Zach grouched. Emma reached out and seized the front of his shirt and pulled him to her. “Shut up, Zach.” She ate any reply, teeth scraping his lip. “Oh, lordy, Em’s feeling a bit frisky.” Colby’s voice was muffled as he lifted her shirt and licked and nipped at her belly. And she was. The male flesh surrounding her tempted her beyond belief. She wanted nothing more than to roll around in the testosterone radiating from their big bodies, to pull all their warmth around her and never come up for air. She needed the salt of their skin against her tongue and their hard flesh beneath her hands. Needed it all, and needed it now. Her hands went to the hem of her shirt and tore it off over her head. They must have realized about then that she wasn’t mucking around because Ty’s big hands made short work of her bra while Colby managed to get her jeans undone with only one good arm. The shimmy of her hips helped them off the rest of the way. Callused palms grazed over her puckered nipples, rolling them teasingly before closing over the twin globes and kneading gently. Pulled back against Ty’s hard body, Emma could only submit, any nagging reservations washed away by his heat. A deep purr rumbled from her throat as her arousal soared. Zach bent and kissed her, his wicked lips and dancing tongue snatching the purr away and replacing it with a full-throated moan. Wet velvet made her mouth its own. When her greed prevailed and she made her own foray into his mouth, Zach drew on her tongue as only he could, gently and rhythmically. Not too forceful, not too hard, just a sinful suction that made her womb clench and her cunt weep. Her thigh was lifted tenderly over Colby’s good shoulder, opening her to his gaze, and his mouth. Stiffened to a hard point, his tongue

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stabbed at the very top of her slit before sweeping toward her clit with devilish slowness. Emma couldn’t help it. She slid her hand down and opened herself to his mouth, spreading her lips wide with split fingers, making a target out of the nexus of nerves throbbing for his touch. It proved an invitation the youngest Whelan couldn’t resist. His snarling growl shot through her pussy but a fevered heartbeat before the flat of his tongue landed atop her clit and unleashed hell. Stubbled cheeks nudged her fingers, bringing home the blatant wantonness of her actions. She should have been mortified, but instead her sexual excitement flared higher than ever before. “You have no idea how beautiful you look right now, darlin’.” Ty’s husky whisper brushed across her ear. “So wild and willing.” Emma dragged her heavy eyelids open. She wanted to see his face, see the conviction she’d heard in his voice. She lifted from Zach’s kiss, feeling his lips trail down her throat as she looked to Ty, but he wasn’t looking down at her. She followed his gaze to the fulllength mirror in the corner. Her eyes locked with his charcoal depths in the rosewood-framed glass, shock widening her amber orbs. That was her? Wild and willing did not begin to cover it. The gloriously naked woman in the embrace of three fully clothed men was confident and assured of her feminine power, wanton and reckless in her need, everything she was not. “Look at you, Em. So full of fire, full of passion.” He lifted her swollen breasts, offering the sharpened points to his brother’s mouth. “So fucking sexy it takes my breath away.” The gravel in his whisper closed her eyes, licked down her spine, and stole her will. “Oh, God, I’m gonna drown!” Colby muttered fiercely. “If I don’t get inside you in the next ten seconds, I’m gonna burst.” He sucked roughly at her pussy and the fingers spreading it wide, slurping at the nectar running freely. “Say yes, Em. Tell me you want it as much as I do.” “Yes, God, yes!” The answer came automatically, bypassing all cognitive process.

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Ty held her still when her hips would have followed the retreat of Colby’s mouth. He shucked out of his clothes as if they were on fire, Zach not far behind. Emma’s eyes fell hungrily on the erections bobbing in time with frenzied heartbeats. Being held back by Ty’s strong arms only increased her need, making her yearn to feel their satin steel against her skin, their strength forging inside her. Hunger reached crisis point when Colby lay back against the burgundy coverlet, a white square of bandage the only imperfection on his bronzed and magnificently aroused body. Her mouth actually watered as she looked at the plum-dark head beaded with his dew. Colby saw the direction her thoughts had bolted. “No, you don’t, sweetheart, I don’t have the control to take that right now.” He fisted the base of his cock before tugging his balls back down. “Don’t let her go, Ty. She’ll have this all over and done before we have a chance to start,” Colby said. “Zach, in the end pocket of my bag, throw me a cock ring, would you?” “Feeling the heat, little brother?” Zach teased, bending to rummage around in the bag. Emma tried to divide her attention between Zach’s muscular ass and the bounty of Colby spread out on her bed. Ty fanned the flames higher, one hand cupping her mons, the other rolling a furled nipple, firm and exquisitely slow, his teeth grazing her shoulder, promising everything and delivering jack. She watched spellbound as Colby slid the black plastic coated cable over the length of his cock and worked it over his balls, tugging and pulling until both spheres ballooned over the cable. He tightened it ruthlessly. Emma’s knees gave way as her cunt fluttered in the closest thing to an orgasm she had ever felt without actually coming. It looked so barbaric, so fucking brutal! Only Ty’s grip kept her upright. She could feel her juices flood his hand, his hold becoming precarious with the copious lubrication. “Oh, Christ, she’s never been readier than this,” Ty cursed as his hand slid on her drenched pussy. He switched his grip to her waist

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and lifted. Emma needed no encouragement to spread her legs as he lowered her over Colby. The hot brand of his bound cock near sizzled as it kissed her sodden cunt. A roll of her hips had him sinking halfway into her before he knew what had happened, ripping a groan from deep inside him that was three parts shout. She felt Ty back away but his hard hands were replaced by Zach’s. She was pushed forward to lie along Colby’s hard torso, his lips a temptation she couldn’t resist. Her hips tried to rise and fall but one hand gripping her hip soon put an end to that. Rocking them earned her a sound smack on her upturned ass and tore her away from Colby’s cinnamon kiss. What started as a snarl of pure frustration ended in a gasp as cold lube painted her anus. A deep groan followed when Zach pressed his thumb against the puckered ring. “Push out, honey. Let me make it burn so good for you.” Zach nipped the heated cheek of her ass, imploring her to allow his exploration. Emma could only capitulate, held captive by the hot spear of Colby’s cock and the depraved pleasure of Zach’s slow penetration of her ass. “That’s it, sweetheart, let him in. I can feel him when I’m inside you. You like that, don’t you? I can feel you cream even harder when he pushes forward. Think of how it’s going to feel when we are both inside you.” Emma could only moan. Colby’s heated words magnified the decadent sensations. The slow burn intensified when she felt Zach slide the other thumb in and begin stretching her, massaging nerves that fast grew addicted to his touch. “That’s it, honey, you’re doing so well. Do you want to feel my cock inside you? Think of how full you will be. Colby filling that wet pussy, me in this untried ass, and I’m sure you can get Ty to give you something to scream around. And you are going to scream, Em.

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You’ll come harder than you ever have. Can I take your ass, Em?” He spread her wider, and she could feel the exquisite burn. “Please, anything! Just let me move.” She nearly cried as Colby slid from her sheath but stilled when the broad head of Zach’s dick kissed her star. He pushed and retreated, pushed and retreated. She felt the roughness of Ty’s hands soothing on her back and knew he watched, that he would look after her. She relaxed and felt the first earth-shaking penetration of Zach’s cockhead through her ring. In and out he worked it, not breaching her fully but giving her time to adapt and for her base hungers to grow. She felt her fingers tugged away from where they clenched the bedspread, a callused thumb stroking her knuckles before her hand was directed between her and Colby’s hips. “Make it good for yourself, darlin’, but don’t you dare come before he is all the way in.” She stroked her cream-slick clit unhurriedly, letting Zach’s slow incursion into her ass set the leisurely pace. Decadent and thrilling, he slid through the inner ring to lodge inside her. “Fuck, so tight!” Zach froze, his breath hissing through his teeth before he pulled back a little and thrust forward slowly to seat himself fully within her forbidden hole. There was pain there somewhere, but it was lost in the satiating excess as Colby slid back into her grasping pussy. She could feel the twin members jockeying for position as both men sank balls deep inside her. Pressure against her tailbone started a tremor deep inside, rapidly building into a quake of devastating magnitude. Flickering fingers became obsolete as control of her orgasm was wrested from her by the men possessing her body. Zach swore and began to move with rocking thrusts deep within that pushed her up and along his brother’s cock. Primal sounds with no names spilled from her throat, deep and unbridled. So full, completely possessed, and totally out of control. Mindlessly she turned to a stroke on her cheek, infant reflexes taking hold. The rough pad of a thumb pressed against her lips and

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she suckled on it, sounds vibrating against the flesh. Her teeth scraped the digit in an effort to keep it in her mouth, but it pulled away just the same. A wet and silky cockhead replaced it. Her mouth opened wide, and Ty’s cock stroked over her tongue. Her moans and cries bathed it with her passion. The barrage of the members inside her precluded any conscious thought. Her mouth was passive but accommodating. The trembling erupted into a quake that blew the scale to hell, and Emma was the epicenter. Zach cursed soundly as the clenching of her inner muscles took him with her. Emma felt the hot spill of seed inside her rectum even over the cataclysmic release shaking her in its grip. Sound echoed from the walls, male rumbles and the scream of a dying animal, full-throated and heart-rending. It took a moment to realize the sound was coming from her mouth. No flesh muffled her unrestrained cry of total abandonment. Zach pulled slowly from her ass, as though loath to leave the hot, tight tunnel. Only after her shudder passed as he slipped from her body did she realize Colby was still hard inside her. Eyes barely focusing she looked down at him. “You didn’t..?” “We’re not done yet, sweet,” he assured her, thrusting his hips up hard. The thrust reached the end of her and normally would have been enough to send her over again. But something was missing, she felt empty, incomplete. “What’s wrong?” Colby ground upward again. “Can’t you come without something in your ass now?” He nearly sounded amused. “Ty?” “Not me. Pass her here.” Emma felt herself lifted, the head of Colby’s bloated cock tugging at her gate before her body gave him up reluctantly. Ty lay back and brought her to lay full length atop him, midnight gray searching her face before he kissed her. His lips and tongue coaxed a response until she was plundering his mouth. Emma was lost to the pleasures of his kiss, her legs automatically straddling his broad body, their height difference too great to do more

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than have his cockhead graze her engorged folds. Hands palming her ass brought her attention away from his addictive taste. “You first, Ty, I want to feel the bite when I push in.” Colby encouraged her to wiggle down his brother’s body. Emma could feel him watching her lips stretch around the thickness of Ty’s cock. “Christ, that’s hot!” His voice had roughened with desire. “Are you ready for me, Em?” He rubbed his bulbous head against her dusky star, his cock slick with her cream. Emma could only groan her assent as Ty fisted her hair in one hand and harshly rolled a nipple with the other. Through passionhazed eyes she saw Ty watch her as his brother pushed against her ass. “Push back at him, darlin’, let him in.” Her eyes closed as she concentrated on relaxing muscles. The head of Colby’s cock was much wider than Zach’s, intimidating as it pressed into her. Ty’s even bigger width already filled her to capacity. A white-hot burn flared as Colby breached her anus, the intensity blazing to unbearable until he passed through the inner ring, his slimmer shaft a comfortable pleasure in comparison. Her trembling grew anew. Sinful pressure and exquisite agony mingled to send her higher. Instead of being a passive vessel, Emma worked herself on the double invaders, her clit mashing against the thick root of Ty’s cock as her movements became frenzied. Ecstasy bubbled, simmering away, spurred on by Colby’s grunts of pleasure. “Let go, Em, come for me.” He sounded like he was in mortal agony. “Now, Em. Fuck.” He brought his hand down across her ass, slapping the globe soundly. Emma only moaned higher at his heavy hand, warmth spreading from the impact to her overstuffed orifices. She wiggled back at him, silently begging for more. Colby made a noise like a famished man who had just been handed a feast and gave her what she wanted, the sound of his hand impacting with her ass offset by feminine cries and masculine groans.

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Her orgasm rolled toward her like an avalanche. She was just ahead of it when Colby’s hands clamped down on her cheeks, trapping the heat, and he thrust inside her as if he meant to come out the other side. Ty bucked upward, burying himself to the hilt with the same brutal rhythm, and Emma splintered. The avalanche swept over her and buffeted her with its colossal strength. Lost in devastating pleasure, anchored only by the men who held her as they shook with their own release, Emma rolled with the force of nature, riding it out and no longer fighting the strength of her orgasm. “I think I just died.” Colby shuddered helplessly atop her, causing aftershocks to ripple through Emma and make Ty suck in his breath. “I did, too, and this is fuckin’ heaven,” Ty rasped out against the top of her head. All Emma could do was hum in agreement. The sensation of being thoroughly replete and sandwiched between two hard male bodies did nothing to resurrect her IQ. Colby withdrew from her tender body and knelt behind her, resting his head atop the small of her back. His chest pounded out his steadying rhythm against the reddened globes of her ass. The comforting but titillating sensation made Emma hum once more. “Oh, God, is that his heartbeat?” Emma nodded against the wall of Ty’s chest. “Isn’t that something?” Ty rubbed her back, his big hand warming her with its comfort. “You must be sore, darlin’. Zach, you want to run some water into that monstrous bath?” “Why me?” “I’m betting you’re the only one who can walk right now.” Almost asleep, Emma floated on a cloud of satiation. Ty filled her yet with his softening member, and his big body warmed her even when Colby finally kissed her rump and arose. “Darlin’, you have no idea of the amount of dreams you just made come true.” Ty held her tighter against him, his big hands worshipful. “Are you sore?”

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Emma wriggled experimentally, jolting a little when his soft cock slid from her body. “I’m a little tender, but not sore. I don’t know if I can walk, though.” Even lying down, her legs felt shaky. “That’s okay, I think I have recovered enough to carry you. How does a nice, hot bath sound?” Ty’s voice tenderly rumbled through her. “As long as I can stay asleep, it sounds just fine.” Ty chuckled and sat up. “I’ll try not to wake you too much,” he promised, getting to his feet. Emma locked her knees into his hips and clung like a sleepy limpet as he carried her in his strong embrace. Zach was already in the rapidly filling tub, and Colby walked out of the adjoining toilet as Ty stepped into the steaming water. The hot water soothed the aches that began to surface, the gentle reminders of her sexual excess. Emma clung to Ty until Zach claimed her, holding her close while Colby bathed her body. Their attentions lulled her as she submitted to the intimate washing of her body. After Colby had a cuddle she found herself back in Ty’s thick arms. She gave voice to the query that had been nagging her. With her head nestled in the bend of his neck she could whisper just fine. “Ty?” “Yes, darlin’?” “Why didn’t you…you know, when you had the chance?” “Why didn’t I take your ass?” Red with embarrassment, she could only nod, hoping her blush couldn’t be seen. “First of all, I didn’t want to hurt you, Em. I’m more than a little wider than Zach. And secondly, I’m not going anywhere near that ass until you commit yourself to us. For me there is no going back once you give yourself to me like that, and I want my ring on your finger before that happens.” He slapped her submerged ass gently when the sniggering across the other side of the tub was echoed by the woman in his arms. “Not that ring, you little deviant. God, you’re as bad as those two. I’m surrounded by smart-asses.”

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With a smile on her face, Emma drifted off to sleep, buoyed by the water and lulled by the touch of her men. She barely roused when she was lifted out of the cooling water and tenderly dried. Siestas didn’t get any better than the one she had, completely surrounded by the heat of her lovers and riding the exhaustion of their attentions. Her throat rumbled like a satisfied cat.

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Chapter 17 The ring hung over a pin in the cork board. The note below hadn’t changed in the week it had been there. It still read, When you are ready…Emma toyed with it, running a pen around the silver band, making the flush-set diamond sparkle in the morning light. Her birthday call to Casey was not going to plan. It was just after seven and Casey had arrived at a job site. She was usually quite adept at working and talking at the same time, but the silence interspersed with curses indicated today was not normal. “I’m sorry, Emma. Some dirtbag keeps damaging my equipment. It is downright sabotage. My insurance company coughed up last time, but they won’t be so forthcoming this time. I wish they would leave me alone.” “Whoa! Back up. What is going on, Case?” Emma was stumped at the lack of fight in her half sister’s voice. Casey was a fighter. She didn’t give in to anything. “Someone keeps damaging my equipment. It was small things at first, but it has really blown out now. There has been over fifteen grand’s worth of damage this month, Em. I can’t cope with this.” She heard the rough intake of breath, a telltale catch. “I’m about ready to get out of contracting and go be a secretary somewhere.” “That requires typing skills, hon, and those you don’t have.” Casey’s emails were dreadful. She had no idea of punctuation, and her spelling was creative at best. “Why do you stay in Carson City? It’s a big country out there.” “This is where I was raised, Emma. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

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“You could always come and live with me.” Casey laughed weakly. “Yeah, and that’s going to work, too.” “Well, not with me. In Liberty Springs anyway. I would really enjoy spending some time with you.” “I’ve heard about that place recently, some nuckin’ futzo got his ass shot or something. Isn’t it a town full of sexual deviants?” “Yeah, about that…” Twenty minutes later Casey was dumbfounded. “Jesus, Em! I’m not sure what’s the biggest shock, that you nailed that crazy bastard or that you’re living with three hot studs. Jesus, I remember you used to blush if I even talked about sex. Those guys need a medal for removing the stick from your ass.” A big bold laugh brought a smile to Em’s face. “They’ve turned you into a wild child and you want me to move there?” She chuckled. She could see now why Casey had always seen her as stuffy. “Only if you want to.” Emma picked up the ring. It was the first time she had allowed herself to touch it with her hands. “I know of a house on a couple of acres that will be coming up for rent soon. It would have enough room to store all your equipment. There are some rather gorgeous-looking neighbors, too. Don’t tell any of my lot I said that, though.” “Too late, sweetheart.” “Fuck!” Emma fell off the stool and landed on her ass as Colby spoke from where he lounged against the door frame. She shot him a dirty look as she struggled to her feet, retrieving the phone from the floor. Laughter greeted her on the other end. “Oh, Em. I wish I had been there to see that. I am laughing my ass off just listening to it. Tell me, does he look as good as that voice sounds?” “Better, but he is going to end up with a swollen lip if he sneaks up on me again.” She still scowled at Colby, who had an unrepentant grin on his face, a grin that held the promise of retribution. “Think about it anyway, Casey. And I hope your day gets better.”

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“If you were looking at the mess I am now, you’d know it could only get better, and that your offer looks pretty damn good right now. I think you will be hearing from me, sis.” The phone disconnected before Emma could act on the shock she felt. Casey had never before acknowledged the blood bond between them. “Well, well, well. Miss Emma has some ‘splaining to do.” Blue eyes sparkled with mischief. “Those dickwad Marshalls are gorgeous, are they? I suppose I could overlook that since you’re offering our house out, ‘cause that means we’re staying right here.” He stalked toward her, a smugness tingeing his predator’s smile. “Nice to see that it fits.” Emma followed his gaze to where the ring sat on her third finger. She quickly stripped it off and put it back on the peg. She didn’t even remember sliding it on. “That’s a shame. It suits you, Em.” He pinned her to the bench with his body, sealing off all routes of escape with his arms. “When are you going to give in? Ty’s not going to cave. Over a week of the sweetest begging I have ever heard has not got you anywhere. He’s even more stubborn than you, Em. You know you want this to be permanent. I just heard you tell your sister the same thing. When are you planning on letting us know?” Emma let her hips snug against his, trying to distract him. “That won’t work, sweet. I’ll bend you over this bench and take you right now, but you’ll still be in the same predicament when we’re done.” He rocked his erection against her to substantiate the claim. “I’m scared, that’s why, Colb. One day you lot are going to wake up and you’ll finally see little old me instead of the fantasy you’ve built up inside your thick skulls. Then I’ll be on my own again. I couldn’t cope with losing any of you.” “Christ, Emma! You think we don’t see the real you? Hon, I think we see you better than you do. You deserve this happiness. It’s not going to end. We’ll still be chasing you around trying to get a bit when we’re all gray and old. We love your hot little body, but it’s

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what is in here that keeps us coming back.” He laid his palm between her breasts. “You are an incredibly strong woman with a heart big enough to love all of us. You love Ty even though he’s such a grumpy bastard. You love Zach even though he is the most annoying person to live with on earth. And you even love me, despite the fact that I am an absolute slob.” “Ty’s not grumpy.” Emma defended the eldest Whelan. “Not since you came along, sweet. I notice you’re not defending Zach or me.” “Sorry, Colb, but you are a slob, and Zach is annoying.” She slid her hands around his taut waist. “But you’re right, I do love you anyway.” “Say yes, Em.” His eyes begged. The phone rang three times before Emma made any move to answer it. Colby watched as she spoke briefly before hanging up. “I’d better say yes, because Casey wants to know when she can move into your house.” Colby’s smile made her legs weak and her heart glow. “You’re never going to regret it, sweetheart.” His lips stole any chance of a reply. **** Ty got in late. His back ached, and one shoulder felt like it had a knot the size of his fist in it. Fifteen horses in one day were five more than he liked to do. But as he had driven all the way over to Jackson, the numbers had made it worthwhile. His body, however, was not in agreement with his wallet. He had already called to let Em know he would be late and that he would get something to eat on the way. He entered through the laundry and made use of the shower there. The smell of horses’ hooves was not high on his list of favorite smells to bring inside.

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The shower helped with his back but the knot still caught every time he moved his shoulder. He went to the kitchen in search of some painkillers. He was looking in the cabinet where Colby kept his tablets when he heard the sound of bare feet padding across the tile. Warm hands rested above the towel that wrapped his waist, and a head nuzzled sleepily against his back. A smile grew on his face despite being tired and sore. “Hey, darlin’. What are you doing up?” “Waiting for you. What are you looking for?” Her cheek rubbed against his back. “Some painkillers or anti-inflammatories. My shoulder is all tight.” “Want me to give it a rub for you?” “You don’t have to.” “I know. I want to.” He could only follow when she took hold of his hand and led him into the sitting room that adjoined the main bedroom. She was wearing one of his shirts that hung down to her bare knees. “Lie down there. I’ll just grab some oil.” Ty sank slowly to the thick rug in front of the empty hearth, lit dully by the dimmed standing lamp. The first time he had seen the room his head had been full of cozy winter nights by the fire, making love to Emma in front of the flames. Right now, he was just glad the rug was comfortable. Emma padded back to his side, twirling the bottle of oil between her hands to warm it. She sank to her knees beside him, a little girl lost in the folds of his old shirt. The oil was a little cold as she pooled it in the furrow of his spine, but her hands quickly warmed it, sliding slickly over his skin. It didn’t take her a minute to find the rock-hard lump in his trapezius. He couldn’t hold back a groan when she worked the heel of her hand into it. “Tell me if I’m doing it too hard,” she warned, kneading into the lump.

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“That feels unreal. Just keep doing that, Em.” It was a bittersweet agony, pain lancing up to his neck and then soothed away by her hands as she lined up for another pass over the knot. “I’m going to have to sit on you. Your shoulders are too wide for me to lean over for long.” Her ass touched down on the towel that covered his, but her silky inner thighs pressed their heat against his sides. He wondered just what she was wearing beneath his shirt. “God, I love your body, so big and strong.” Her hands swept the length of his back and fanned out to his arms before she returned to the problem spot. Ty’s cock hardened at her worshipful tone. She sounded like he felt when he got his hands on her. “It’s all yours, darlin’,” he assured her. A smile grew when he felt her lean forward to reach his nape. The little vixen wasn’t wearing a damn thing under that shirt. And she was wet. He felt her lips stick to him as she straightened back up. The way she stilled said she had felt it too. “Sorry, Ty, it’s just an automatic reaction to having you under me. Hell, I get like it whenever you’re around, you know that.” “And love it,” he added. “I know you’re tired and sore. I just want to make you feel better. I’m not going to molest you.” “You’re not? That’s kind of disappointing.” “Really? You wouldn’t mind?” “Go for it, darlin’, do whatever you want.” He could tell she was itching to get her hands on him. The towel was stripped from him, jerked from beneath his hips. At least it gave his cock a chance to assume a more comfortable position than being stuck pointing at his feet while it swelled. She pushed his thighs apart a bit further until she could kneel between them, and then her hands travelled the length of his spine once more. His first indication that her shirt had gone was the hard points of two warm breasts scraping along his back before she pressed

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to him in a full body caress. Lord, but she felt good against him! Soft and curvy, so giving. Teeth nipped softly down his back, shivers of pleasure following in their wake. Ever downward she went until the hard curve of his ass lay beneath her hot mouth. She licked one cheek and then bit it like an apple, holding his flesh between her teeth. Ty sucked in a breath as fire lanced through him, but he couldn’t tell her to leave off. She was letting the hedonist reign, and he wondered where that was going to take her. He didn’t have to wonder long. She licked over her teeth marks before kissing it tenderly. Her knees slid back and he felt her intentions with the sensitive hairs on the back of his balls before her finger stroked the flesh pressed against the deep pile rug. It felt like she was absorbing the fineness of his skin, mapping the textures, and if the speed-up of her breathing was any indication, liking what she found. Her hot breath bathed his balls before the devastating lash of her tongue. Nuzzling into him, her nose teased the fine fuzz between his ass cheeks while hot, wet velvet made love to his balls. He couldn’t hold back the sounds that built under her ministrations. He tried to lift to give her better access, but she growled and grazed his sac with her teeth. Emma wanted him right where he was. He couldn’t help the rocking motion that stimulated his cock as it lay trapped between the luxury pile rug and his belly. “You need to stop, darlin’. It’s too good, and there’s lots I want to do to you.” “If you have to ask, you don’t want it bad enough.” Ty knew a challenge when he heard it. He came to his knees and turned, pulling her close and kissing her soundly. “You are in so much trouble.” He gripped her ass cheeks and squeezed threateningly. “Yeah, yeah, you’re all talk, Ty.” He chuckled wickedly. “Won’t work, Em. Begging didn’t work, so now you’re trying to provoke me into it? There’s nothing you can

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do right now that is going to make me slip into that tight little ass, darlin’.” “Nothing?” He felt her grin against his neck. “Not even this?” Her left hand rose to his mouth and rubbed the back of her knuckles over his lips. His heart skipped a beat as he realized his ring adorned her hand. “Yeah, that’ll do the trick,” he amended, claiming her mouth in a deep, annihilating kiss. He rose to his feet, picking her up. Her thighs wrapped him instinctively, her hot, molten core pressed tight against his tight belly. He started walking. “Where are you going?” “To bed. I want a little comfort for this, love.” “You’ll wake...” “They’re awake, darlin’, I guarantee that.” There was no way either of his brothers would have slept through the noise he had made or the scent of her arousal that drifted through the rooms. Sure enough, both waited in the huge bed, naked and aroused with the bed turned down and the lights on low. They were awake all right, and rearing to go. “Mmm, where should I put you, Em?” “Right here, brother.” Zach slid down the bed and turned, placing his head on the edge of the high bed. Ty peeled Emma off him and turned her, lowering her over Zach’s upturned face, her knees on the very edge of the bed. Her hungry cry told Ty that Zach’s devilish tongue had found its mark. Zach would never pass up a chance for a midnight snack of the carnal type. Colby passed him a tube of lube and an anticipatory smile as he moved in at Zach’s hip. Colb’s hand was just as rough and demanding as Em liked it when he seized her hair and guided her mouth to the big-headed cock he fisted. Ty waited until she had settled into a rhythm before dribbling the chilly gel down the valley between her cheeks. He let it run down the

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silken skin, watching her squirm as it reached her brown dot. Her sphincter tightened reflexively, the twitch of flesh visible. Colby and Zach had both enjoyed her tight-fisted grip as she had relinquished control to them in the most submissive act a woman could gift her man. But with Em, submit wasn’t the right word. The little wench had been meek and subordinate only the first time. After that she had chased her pleasure shamelessly, wanting the seductively insidious sensation of one of them in her ass with a hunger that rivaled their own. Ty had never been as close to capitulation as he had been over the last couple of nights. She had taunted him, shaking that curvy ass in his face, begging him to fill her, near crying when he had plunged into the hot, molten depths of her pussy instead. Zach and Colb had no such qualms, enjoying everything she offered and going back for more. Tonight it was his turn. He rubbed the lube into her star, ignoring the way she pushed back into his touch for more. The moment his finger slipped through her ring she tightened alarmingly. “Back off, Zach, don’t let her come. Keep her right on the edge. I don’t want her any tighter than she is right now.” Sweat beaded on his brow as he slipped a second digit into her. She took it greedily. Hot, satiny flesh gripped his fingers as muffled cries tore from her throat to tease Colby’s cock. Wet suckling sounds and appreciative humming assured him Zach was enjoying his feast. Ty ran a big hand up her back, a reassuring touch for him as well as her. He had never before taken a woman he loved this way. He had never felt the pressure to perform the way he did right then. “Can you take three, darlin’? You know you have to before I’ll try.” Colby raised her head so that she could answer, “Stop teasing me, Ty. I want you and I want you now.” Colby laughed, but it was cut short as Emma dove for his cock again. “Doesn’t get more adamant than that, Ty. I’d be doing what the lady wants.”

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The “now” had just the effect he was sure Emma had been looking for. His cock leapt to do her bidding, but he had enough sense left to scissor his fingers a few times to loosen her further. A nice ring of pink showed when he withdrew his fingers. He squirted lube into his palm and coated the thick cock that was trembling like an eager hound in its need to bury inside her. “Let her go, Colb, I need to know if I’m hurting her.” Ty dick-kissed her pucker a few times, teasing himself as well as her. He splayed one big hand on top of her ass and gripped his cock for control with the other. Zach spread her cheeks wide as he teased her clit. He tucked the broad head at her entrance and pressed gently. Her flesh spread welcomingly for him as she pressed back at him. He advanced until the pressure was so great he was sure he was hurting her. “Burns.” Emma panted. He made to withdraw, but she stopped him. “No, don’t go, just give me a moment.” Her hands disappeared between their bodies. He felt Zach lift her a little higher to give her room. He could sense the movement of her fingers, and Zach’s growl told him it was quite a show. Struck dumb, he watched her rock back to take him. She backed off when he felt that flesh-rending tightness but returned once more. He felt like he had run a marathon when the flare popped inside her inner ring. Her labored gasping told the same story. “So tight, darlin’. Just stay still, let yourself loosen up a bit.” But Emma was having none of it. She worked herself jerkily on the slick head, gasping and moaning. He ached to feel her flickering passage the full length of his shaft. “Hold still, Em.” “Can’t.” “Hold her, Zach.” Ty pulled back, feeling her grip him tighter to stop him slipping from her body. Then he forged into her, watching her spine lengthen and then arch as he sank to the hilt in her ass. He couldn’t hold back

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the groan as her body gave way to his incursion. So hot, so deep. “Tell me it feels good, darlin’. Tell me I’m not hurting you.” “Feel…better…when…you…move.” Her broken reply was more of a demand as she strived to move in Zach’s grip. “Not yet, Em. I’ve been on the other side for a week now. There’s something I just gotta feel.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her flush against his body. Her gasp as he sank even deeper made him go slow but he stood and turned, sitting on the bed and sliding up against the pillows. He got himself settled and then spread her legs to rest on the outside of his. Big hands slid down to cup her mound, slipping in the wetness as he exposed her folds even further. “Who’s first?” Zach was closest and wasted no time in getting into position and lining up with her dripping entrance. Ty gripped her breasts as he felt his brother work his way into her body, rolling the diamond-hard tips. His cock was compressed even further as her body strived to make room for both of them. Zach’s devout “fuck!” echoed his own as he bottomed in her snug pussy. Emma’s cries grew frantic as she was buffeted between their bodies, writhing and twisting as she chased her pleasure Zach went straight at it hard and fast. “I want to feel you squeeze me, Em, show me how you come for us.” Zach’s need was in his eyes as he beseeched her. For once Ty felt superior. He was in exquisite agony buried in her tight ass, but his concern for her had tempered his control. He rode the edge but was in no danger of being pushed over. “Oh, Christ, make her come. I’m not going to last.” Ty found her hand and gave it a push in the right direction. He bet the knuckles brushing against his brother’s groin was going to be the end of him. He was almost right. He felt her muscles squeeze on his cock like she meant to crush it and Zach roared. He thrust mindlessly into her as he came. Ty gritted his teeth and held back the need to join him in pillaging her twitching body.

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Colby wasn’t giving Zach any time to luxuriate in the afterglow. Zach rolled away at his urging, blowing like a winded plow horse as he tried to catch his breath, but Colby paid him no mind. “You look so fucking sexy, Em. You’re such a bad girl. My bad girl.” “Shut up and fuck me, Colb.” Ty choked back a laugh. When Emma gave in to sex, she embraced it fully. She didn’t hold anything back. Colby didn’t tease or test, he just dove right in. Ty caught his breath as the power of the thrust forced her up his shaft. He’d been fairly passive while he shared her with Zach, but Em and Colb were not going to hold back, so neither was he. He bucked his hips as Colby drew back, thrusting deep. The sound it ripped from Em was primal and triumphant, a yell rather than a moan. It grabbed him by the balls and spurred him on. Again and again they pistoned inside her, one in, one out, driving her higher and higher. “More, need more.” Emma panted, rolling against his chest with need. Ty cursed. He had no idea how he could do that. He was giving her everything he had. But Colby gave a feral grin, teeth gritted savagely, and missed a beat. He seized her hips and pulled her down to take both of them at once. The impact forced the breath from Emma’s body and tears to leak from Ty’s eyes, but it had the desired effect. Three brutal dual thrusts and she came undone, shouting her release to the ceiling as her body milked savagely at their cocks, stripping the remnants of their selfcontrol and bringing a deluge of seed to flood her depths. A harmony of sated lust echoed in the chamber, a sacred hymn, a song of victory and sweet surrender. Ty gasped for breath and fought to remain aware, to savor the moment and hold it dear, his body less intimately entwined than his heart.

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He’d predicted she would own them lock, stock, and barrel, but he hadn’t expected the hold to be quite as profound, nor feel so right. The little darlin’ was theirs, but the Whelans were now the sole property of Emma Duncan. As Colby rolled to the side and Ty disentangled himself, Emma curled into his chest, not even flinching when Zach wiped and dried her tenderly. “You okay, darlin’? “I’ll never walk again, but it is going to take a week to get the smile off my face.” “I hope you can walk. We’re going to need a hand to move in properly, and we’ll need to put the house up for rent.” “Mmm, about that…”

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Epilogue Two weeks later “This is the last lot?” Ty lugged the box into the tray of his truck. Casey turned with a tired smile. “That’s it.” The young woman was as different from Emma as it was possible to get. At least five-ten with long, red hair in a no-nonsense braid, she looked like some warrior princess. Lean and muscular, strong as a bull, but with curves in all the right places. Ty couldn’t wait to see the Marshalls’ faces when they got the first look at their new neighbor. Brody and Luke liked petite little bits of fluff that blushed and looked away when the met them, women who were in awe of their masculinity and admittedly good looks. Casey was going to stir their conceited asses to no end. Ty just hoped she had the wisdom to turn them inside out and walk away. “Who is towing the trailer?” Casey asked. “I’d better take it. Zach can come with me and I heard Emma say she wants a ride in your truck.” “She is already in there. Is she always so excitable?” “You have no idea,” Ty replied, walking away. Ty had been expecting to be picking up lawnmowers and hedge clippers, not Bobcats and excavators. Casey’s truck that Em was creaming her panties over was a great big burgundy and chrome Kenworth fitted with a rigid tipper. A nine-ton excavator was snugged into the shining alloy body ready for its eighteen-hour trip to its new home in Liberty Springs. He would be towing the tagalong trailer with the Bobcat in his Dodge.

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Colby pulled out, and the Kenworth rumbled out behind, the big Cat motor purring sweetly. Zach slipped into the passenger seat and they were off, an interesting convoy, to say the least. Zach couldn’t wait to see the Marshalls react to Casey either. He knew they wouldn’t be able to resist a crack at her, but he, too, had noticed the man-eater quality in Emma’s sister. She would chew those boys up and spit them out without breaking a sweat. Ty just hoped she didn’t get indigestion. They were just outside of Liberty when an old, faded pink Mustang streaked past them and turned up a dirt road into the hills overlooking the township. “What the...” Zach’s head turned as he watched the erratic driving. “Was that Bailey? What is she doing back in town?” “Heading out to Jory’s to lick her wounds like she always has, I guess,” Ty answered. Bailey had been running to Jory since she was a five-year-old with a skinned knee. She was thirty now and a married woman. What the hell she would be doing heading out there at breakneck speed was anyone’s guess. “I better call Jory and warn him.” “On a Saturday night when he’ll be taking a plaything home? I owe him one. Let the bastard find out the hard way.” “What did he ever do to you?” Ty liked Jory. He was a good man with a good heart, even if he played games a little hardcore for most. Zach took a breath, a smile creasing his lean face. “Well, there were these schoolkids…”

THE END

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kaliana Cole is an Aussie girl who simply loves writing. She plunked herself in front of the PC when temporarily unemployed and hasn’t looked back. She lives with her two exceedingly feral boys and long time, long suffering partner in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains where her time is divided between being good, (mother, lover, neighbor, cleaner and cook) and being bad, (writing raunchy romance and naughty ménage stories, and dreaming up scenarios for upcoming works). Any time not taken up by this latest love is devoted to her horses, which all seem to have become fatter and naughtier since their owner started writing. No Bag Limit is her second novel. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Also by Kaliana Cole Ménage Amour: Good Horses, Fast Cars and Real Men

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